Ninety One UK Ltd Cuts Stock Position in Accenture PLC $ACN

Key Points

• Ninety One UK Ltd trimmed its stake in Accenture by 5.5% in Q4, selling 12,827 shares and leaving it with 219,428 shares valued at about $58.87 million.
• Accenture topped quarterly expectations with EPS of $2.93 (vs. $2.84) and revenue of $18.04 billion (up 7.8% year-over-year), and declared a $1.63 quarterly dividend (annualized $6.52, ~3.3% yield; ex-dividend April 9).
• Analysts maintain a consensus "Moderate Buy" with an average price target of $274.50 versus the stock trading near $197.71, while institutional ownership stands around 75% and insiders have been net sellers recently.

Ninety One UK Ltd lessened its stake in shares of Accenture PLC (NYSE:ACN - Free Report) by 5.5% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 219,428 shares of the information technology services provider's stock after selling 12,827 shares during the period. Ninety One UK Ltd's holdings in Accenture were worth $58,873,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Accenture by 132.6% during the 3rd quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 107 shares of the information technology services provider's stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 61 shares during the last quarter. Triumph Capital Management bought a new position in shares of Accenture during the 3rd quarter valued at about $26,000. Board of the Pension Protection Fund bought a new position in shares of Accenture during the 4th quarter valued at about $27,000. Davis Capital Management bought a new position in shares of Accenture during the 3rd quarter valued at about $28,000. Finally, Private Wealth Management Group LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Accenture by 96.4% during the 4th quarter. Private Wealth Management Group LLC now owns 108 shares of the information technology services provider's stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 53 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 75.14% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ACN has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. UBS Group reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of Accenture in a report on Tuesday, March 17th. Susquehanna increased their price target on shares of Accenture from $270.00 to $277.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, December 19th. Piper Sandler set a $282.00 price target on shares of Accenture in a report on Thursday, March 5th. HSBC lowered their price target on shares of Accenture from $220.00 to $210.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lowered their price target on shares of Accenture from $300.00 to $230.00 and set a "market perform" rating for the company in a report on Friday, March 20th. Seventeen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and ten have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $274.50.

Accenture Stock Up 1.9%

Shares of NYSE ACN opened at $197.71 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 1.34 and a quick ratio of 1.34. The company has a market cap of $131.56 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.19, a PEG ratio of 1.84 and a beta of 1.24. Accenture PLC has a 1 year low of $177.50 and a 1 year high of $325.71. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $204.18 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $239.90.

Accenture (NYSE:ACN - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, March 20th. The information technology services provider reported $2.93 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.84 by $0.09. The business had revenue of $18.04 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $17.80 billion. Accenture had a net margin of 10.61% and a return on equity of 26.33%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 7.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $2.82 earnings per share. Research analysts anticipate that Accenture PLC will post 12.73 earnings per share for the current year.

Accenture Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 9th will be paid a dividend of $1.63 per share. This represents a $6.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 9th. Accenture's payout ratio is currently 53.40%.

Insider Activity

In other news, General Counsel Joel Unruch sold 1,026 shares of Accenture stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $281.70, for a total transaction of $289,024.20. Following the completion of the sale, the general counsel owned 27,181 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $7,656,887.70. The trade was a 3.64% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CAO Melissa A. Burgum sold 3,588 shares of Accenture stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $281.01, for a total transaction of $1,008,263.88. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 8,179 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,298,380.79. This represents a 30.49% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 15,331 shares of company stock valued at $4,048,871. Insiders own 0.02% of the company's stock.

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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.