Scotia Capital Inc. Boosts Stake in Accenture PLC (NYSE:ACN)

Key Points

• Scotia Capital Inc. increased its stake in Accenture PLC by 12.2%, purchasing an additional 37,953 shares, bringing their total ownership to approximately $108.56 million.
• Accenture reported a quarterly earnings per share (EPS) of $3.49, surpassing analyst expectations, with a revenue of $17.73 billion for the quarter.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $1.48 per share, set to be paid on August 15th, yielding 2.3% annually.

Scotia Capital Inc. raised its position in Accenture PLC (NYSE:ACN - Free Report) by 12.2% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 347,923 shares of the information technology services provider's stock after buying an additional 37,953 shares during the period. Scotia Capital Inc. owned 0.06% of Accenture worth $108,564,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Capital Research Global Investors increased its stake in Accenture by 16.8% in the 4th quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 12,295,748 shares of the information technology services provider's stock valued at $4,325,526,000 after buying an additional 1,770,024 shares during the last quarter. Capital International Investors increased its stake in Accenture by 2.2% in the 4th quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 8,513,140 shares of the information technology services provider's stock valued at $2,994,922,000 after buying an additional 181,449 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp increased its stake in Accenture by 10.7% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 7,582,344 shares of the information technology services provider's stock valued at $2,667,393,000 after buying an additional 732,769 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC increased its stake in Accenture by 9.9% in the 4th quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 6,036,845 shares of the information technology services provider's stock valued at $2,123,702,000 after buying an additional 545,109 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada increased its stake in shares of Accenture by 5.2% during the 4th quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 5,126,846 shares of the information technology services provider's stock worth $1,803,572,000 after purchasing an additional 254,869 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.14% of the company's stock.

Accenture Stock Performance

NYSE ACN opened at $255.18 on Friday. Accenture PLC has a 52-week low of $254.20 and a 52-week high of $398.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a quick ratio of 1.46 and a current ratio of 1.46. The company has a market capitalization of $159.83 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.32, a P/E/G ratio of 2.32 and a beta of 1.29. The company has a fifty day moving average of $297.98 and a 200-day moving average of $319.33.

Accenture (NYSE:ACN - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, June 20th. The information technology services provider reported $3.49 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $3.32 by $0.17. Accenture had a net margin of 11.61% and a return on equity of 26.55%. The company had revenue of $17.73 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $17.26 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $3.13 EPS. The firm's revenue was up 7.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Accenture PLC will post 12.73 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Accenture Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, July 10th will be issued a dividend of $1.48 per share. This represents a $5.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, July 10th. Accenture's payout ratio is currently 47.13%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Evercore ISI assumed coverage on shares of Accenture in a research note on Thursday, July 17th. They set an "outperform" rating and a $330.00 price target for the company. HSBC assumed coverage on shares of Accenture in a research note on Monday, July 28th. They set a "reduce" rating and a $240.00 price target for the company. Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on shares of Accenture from $340.00 to $325.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, June 24th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft assumed coverage on shares of Accenture in a research note on Thursday, July 17th. They set a "hold" rating and a $290.00 price target for the company. Finally, BMO Capital Markets decreased their price target on shares of Accenture from $355.00 to $325.00 and set a "market perform" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, June 23rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating, fifteen have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $360.21.

Insider Activity at Accenture

In other Accenture news, insider Angela Beatty sold 203 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Friday, July 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $282.34, for a total value of $57,315.02. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 5,249 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,482,002.66. The trade was a 3.72% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Julie Spellman Sweet sold 2,251 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Friday, July 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $282.45, for a total transaction of $635,794.95. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 8,109 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,290,387.05. This represents a 21.73% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 5,454 shares of company stock valued at $1,646,780. 0.02% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Accenture Profile

Accenture plc, a professional services company, provides strategy and consulting, industry X, song, and technology and operation services worldwide. The company offers application services, including agile transformation, DevOps, application modernization, enterprise architecture, software and quality engineering, data management; intelligent automation comprising robotic process automation, natural language processing, and virtual agents; and application management services, as well as software engineering services; strategy and consulting services; data and analytics strategy, data discovery and augmentation, data management and beyond, data democratization, and industrialized solutions comprising turnkey analytics and artificial intelligence (AI) solutions; metaverse; and sustainability services.

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