Rathbones Group PLC Trims Stock Position in Accenture PLC $ACN

Key Points

• Rathbones Group PLC cut its Accenture stake by 18% in the fourth quarter, selling 199,195 shares and leaving it with 906,565 shares valued at about $243.2 million.
• Accenture posted solid quarterly results, with earnings per share of $2.93 and revenue of $18.04 billion, both ahead of analyst expectations. Revenue rose 7.8% year over year.
• Analysts remain generally constructive despite recent target cuts, with Accenture carrying a Moderate Buy consensus and an average price target of $274.50. The company also pays a quarterly dividend of $1.63 per share, implying a 3.6% yield.

Rathbones Group PLC cut its stake in shares of Accenture PLC (NYSE:ACN - Free Report) by 18.0% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 906,565 shares of the information technology services provider's stock after selling 199,195 shares during the period. Accenture makes up 1.0% of Rathbones Group PLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 28th biggest holding. Rathbones Group PLC owned 0.15% of Accenture worth $243,231,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Jaffetilchin Investment Partners LLC raised its stake in Accenture by 4.2% during the 4th quarter. Jaffetilchin Investment Partners LLC now owns 878 shares of the information technology services provider's stock valued at $236,000 after acquiring an additional 35 shares during the last quarter. Clayton Financial Group LLC increased its position in Accenture by 13.1% during the 4th quarter. Clayton Financial Group LLC now owns 329 shares of the information technology services provider's stock worth $88,000 after purchasing an additional 38 shares during the period. Holt Capital Advisors L.L.C. dba Holt Capital Partners L.P. increased its position in Accenture by 0.9% during the 3rd quarter. Holt Capital Advisors L.L.C. dba Holt Capital Partners L.P. now owns 4,416 shares of the information technology services provider's stock worth $1,089,000 after purchasing an additional 41 shares during the period. Peak Asset Management LLC increased its position in Accenture by 0.8% during the 4th quarter. Peak Asset Management LLC now owns 5,447 shares of the information technology services provider's stock worth $1,461,000 after purchasing an additional 43 shares during the period. Finally, SkyView Investment Advisors LLC increased its position in Accenture by 1.2% during the 2nd quarter. SkyView Investment Advisors LLC now owns 3,751 shares of the information technology services provider's stock worth $1,108,000 after purchasing an additional 43 shares during the period. 75.14% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have issued reports on ACN. Piper Sandler set a $282.00 target price on Accenture in a research report on Thursday, March 5th. Guggenheim dropped their target price on Accenture from $275.00 to $250.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, March 20th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft dropped their target price on Accenture from $280.00 to $230.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, March 6th. Berenberg Bank began coverage on Accenture in a research report on Thursday, January 22nd. They set a "buy" rating and a $313.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada dropped their target price on Accenture from $295.00 to $253.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock 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 company. According to MarketBeat, Accenture has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $274.50.

Accenture Stock Performance

ACN opened at $179.12 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $119.19 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.67, a P/E/G ratio of 1.68 and a beta of 1.08. 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 stock's 50 day simple moving average is $188.33 and its 200 day simple moving average is $229.64. Accenture PLC has a 1-year low of $155.82 and a 1-year high of $322.86.

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

Accenture Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 9th were issued a dividend of $1.63 per share. This represents a $6.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.6%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, April 9th. Accenture's dividend payout ratio is 53.40%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Accenture news, CEO Atsushi Egawa sold 4,872 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $177.14, for a total transaction of $863,026.08. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 12,802 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,267,746.28. This represents a 27.57% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Company insiders own 0.02% of the company's stock.

Accenture Profile

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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