PFA Pension Forsikringsaktieselskab Invests $113.03 Million in Accenture PLC $ACN

Key Points

• PFA Pension Forsikringsaktieselskab opened a new position in Accenture, buying 418,624 shares worth $113.03 million, representing about 0.07% of the company at the quarter end.
• Accenture beat expectations in the quarter with EPS of $2.93 (vs. $2.84 consensus) and revenue of $18.04 billion (up 7.8% YoY), and declared a quarterly dividend of $1.63 per share (annualized yield ~3.6%).
• Insiders have sold roughly 10,943 shares in the last three months, while analysts hold a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" with an average target price of $274.50, though several firms recently trimmed targets.

PFA Pension Forsikringsaktieselskab bought a new position in shares of Accenture PLC (NYSE:ACN - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 418,624 shares of the information technology services provider's stock, valued at approximately $113,029,000. PFA Pension Forsikringsaktieselskab owned 0.07% of Accenture at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of ACN. Brighton Jones LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Accenture by 36.2% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 18,438 shares of the information technology services provider's stock worth $6,486,000 after purchasing an additional 4,905 shares during the period. Sivia Capital Partners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Accenture by 46.9% during the second quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC now owns 2,066 shares of the information technology services provider's stock worth $618,000 after purchasing an additional 660 shares during the period. United Bank boosted its holdings in shares of Accenture by 49.8% during the second quarter. United Bank now owns 3,639 shares of the information technology services provider's stock worth $1,088,000 after purchasing an additional 1,209 shares during the period. Bank of Nova Scotia boosted its holdings in shares of Accenture by 23.0% during the second quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia now owns 828 shares of the information technology services provider's stock worth $247,000 after purchasing an additional 155 shares during the period. Finally, Main Street Financial Solutions LLC lifted its holdings in Accenture by 4.2% in the second quarter. Main Street Financial Solutions LLC now owns 1,767 shares of the information technology services provider's stock worth $528,000 after buying an additional 72 shares during the period. 75.14% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Accenture Price Performance

ACN stock opened at $179.96 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $196.46 and a 200-day moving average price of $235.90. Accenture PLC has a 52-week low of $173.65 and a 52-week high of $325.71. The firm has a market capitalization of $119.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.74, a PEG ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 1.09. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a quick ratio of 1.34 and a current ratio of 1.34.

Accenture (NYSE:ACN - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, March 20th. The information technology services provider reported $2.93 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.84 by $0.09. The company 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. Equities research analysts forecast that Accenture PLC will post 13.87 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Accenture Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, April 9th will be given a dividend of $1.63 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 9th. This represents a $6.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.6%. Accenture's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 53.40%.

Insider Activity at Accenture

In related news, CEO Atsushi Egawa sold 4,872 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $177.14, for a total transaction of $863,026.08. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 12,802 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,267,746.28. This trade represents a 27.57% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO Julie Spellman Sweet sold 6,057 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 15,255 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,679,963.65. This trade represents a 28.42% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold 10,943 shares of company stock valued at $2,327,545 in the last three months. 0.02% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have commented on the stock. BMO Capital Markets lowered their price objective 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. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered their price objective on shares of Accenture from $280.00 to $230.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a report on Friday, March 6th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of Accenture from $251.00 to $275.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Wednesday, January 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of Accenture from $243.00 to $247.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, March 20th. Finally, Rothschild & Co Redburn raised their price objective on shares of Accenture from $205.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Monday, January 5th. Seventeen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and ten have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average 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.

Want to see what other hedge funds are holding ACN? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Accenture PLC (NYSE:ACN - Free Report).

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.