M&T Bank Corp Lowers Stake in Accenture PLC $ACN

Key Points

• M&T Bank cut its stake in Accenture by 78.1% in Q4, selling 174,333 shares and leaving 49,014 shares valued at $13.15 million.
• Company insiders have been net sellers — CEO Julie Spellman Sweet sold 6,057 shares and COO Catherine Kiernan Hogan sold 660, with insiders offloading 14,305 shares (≈$3.76M) over the past three months and now owning just 0.02%.
• Accenture beat quarterly estimates (EPS $2.93 vs. $2.84; revenue $18.04B), declared a $1.63 quarterly dividend (3.7% yield), and retains a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" with a $274.50 average target despite recent price reductions from some analysts.

M&T Bank Corp lessened its position in shares of Accenture PLC (NYSE:ACN - Free Report) by 78.1% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 49,014 shares of the information technology services provider's stock after selling 174,333 shares during the period. M&T Bank Corp's holdings in Accenture were worth $13,150,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Campbell Capital Management Inc. purchased a new stake in Accenture during the fourth quarter worth approximately $665,000. Leelyn Smith LLC grew its stake in Accenture by 6.3% during the fourth quarter. Leelyn Smith LLC now owns 15,183 shares of the information technology services provider's stock worth $4,074,000 after buying an additional 901 shares during the period. Salomon & Ludwin LLC grew its stake in Accenture by 38.9% during the fourth quarter. Salomon & Ludwin LLC now owns 436 shares of the information technology services provider's stock worth $115,000 after buying an additional 122 shares during the period. Optas LLC grew its stake in Accenture by 55.9% during the fourth quarter. Optas LLC now owns 2,629 shares of the information technology services provider's stock worth $705,000 after buying an additional 943 shares during the period. Finally, Ticino Wealth purchased a new stake in Accenture during the fourth quarter worth approximately $2,053,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.14% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Accenture news, CEO Julie Spellman Sweet sold 6,057 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $241.23, for a total transaction of $1,461,130.11. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 15,255 shares in the company, valued at $3,679,963.65. This represents a 28.42% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, COO Catherine Kiernan Hogan sold 660 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, January 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $280.93, for a total transaction of $185,413.80. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer owned 12,688 shares in the company, valued at $3,564,439.84. This trade represents a 4.94% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last three months, insiders sold 14,305 shares of company stock worth $3,759,847. Company insiders own 0.02% of the company's stock.

Accenture Price Performance

Shares of ACN stock opened at $178.49 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $118.77 billion, a PE ratio of 14.62, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.80 and a beta of 1.24. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $200.73 and a 200-day simple moving average of $238.35. The company has a current ratio of 1.34, a quick ratio of 1.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. Accenture PLC has a twelve month low of $174.87 and a twelve month high of $325.71.

Accenture (NYSE:ACN - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, March 20th. The information technology services provider reported $2.93 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.84 by $0.09. The firm had revenue of $18.04 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $17.80 billion. Accenture had a return on equity of 26.33% and a net margin of 10.61%.Accenture's revenue for the quarter was up 7.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $2.82 earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that Accenture PLC will post 13.87 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Accenture Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, April 9th will be issued a $1.63 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 9th. This represents a $6.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.7%. Accenture's dividend payout ratio is currently 53.40%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Argus decreased their price objective on shares of Accenture from $370.00 to $335.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Berenberg Bank began coverage on Accenture in a research report on Thursday, January 22nd. They issued a "buy" rating and a $313.00 target price for the company. Truist Financial decreased their target price on Accenture from $317.00 to $260.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, March 10th. Citigroup decreased their target price on Accenture from $266.00 to $215.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 25th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets decreased their target price on Accenture from $300.00 to $230.00 and set a "market perform" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, March 20th. Seventeen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and ten have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $274.50.

About Accenture

Accenture is a global professional services company that provides a broad range of services and solutions in strategy, consulting, digital, technology and operations. The firm works with organizations across industries to design and implement business transformation programs, deploy and manage enterprise technology, optimize operations, and develop customer and digital experiences. Its offerings encompass management and technology consulting, systems integration, application and infrastructure services, cloud migration and managed services, as well as security and analytics capabilities.

The company delivers industry- and function-specific solutions, combining consulting expertise with proprietary tools, platforms and partnerships with major technology vendors.

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