Spire Wealth Management Sells 19,689 Shares of Accenture PLC $ACN

Key Points

• Spire Wealth Management reduced its stake in Accenture by 95.4%, selling 19,689 shares and retaining 951 shares worth about $255,000 per its latest SEC filing.
• Accenture beat quarterly estimates with EPS of $2.93 (vs. $2.84 expected) and revenue of $18.04 billion, and declared a quarterly dividend of $1.63 ($6.52 annual, ~3.2% yield) payable May 15.
• Analysts are mixed after several price-target cuts, but the consensus remains a Moderate Buy with an average target price of $274.88 (18 Buys, 10 Holds).

Spire Wealth Management reduced its stake in Accenture PLC (NYSE:ACN - Free Report) by 95.4% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 951 shares of the information technology services provider's stock after selling 19,689 shares during the period. Spire Wealth Management's holdings in Accenture were worth $255,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Running Oak Capital LLC grew its position in Accenture by 14.3% in the 3rd quarter. Running Oak Capital LLC now owns 57,541 shares of the information technology services provider's stock valued at $14,190,000 after purchasing an additional 7,190 shares during the period. Weitz Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in Accenture by 28.8% during the third quarter. Weitz Investment Management Inc. now owns 160,550 shares of the information technology services provider's stock worth $39,592,000 after buying an additional 35,900 shares during the last quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. lifted its stake in shares of Accenture by 17.4% in the third quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. now owns 258,599 shares of the information technology services provider's stock valued at $63,771,000 after buying an additional 38,325 shares in the last quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board grew its holdings in shares of Accenture by 180.4% during the third quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 404,680 shares of the information technology services provider's stock valued at $99,794,000 after buying an additional 260,357 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Merit Financial Group LLC increased its position in shares of Accenture by 25.5% during the third quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC now owns 22,401 shares of the information technology services provider's stock worth $5,524,000 after acquiring an additional 4,552 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 75.14% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ACN has been the topic of several recent research reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft dropped their price target on shares of Accenture from $280.00 to $230.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, March 6th. Mizuho dropped their target price on Accenture from $309.00 to $280.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, March 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on Accenture from $243.00 to $247.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, March 20th. Robert W. Baird lowered their price target on Accenture from $330.00 to $265.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, March 20th. Finally, Guggenheim cut their price objective on shares of Accenture from $275.00 to $250.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, March 20th. Eighteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and ten have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Accenture has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $274.88.

Accenture Stock Performance

ACN stock opened at $201.18 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.34, a current ratio of 1.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. The firm has a market cap of $133.87 billion, a PE ratio of 16.48, a P/E/G ratio of 1.87 and a beta of 1.24. The business has a 50 day moving average of $218.82 and a 200-day moving average of $243.39. Accenture PLC has a 12-month low of $187.00 and a 12-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, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.84 by $0.09. The business had revenue of $18.04 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $17.80 billion. Accenture had a return on equity of 26.33% and a net margin of 10.61%.Accenture's quarterly revenue was up 7.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $2.82 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Accenture PLC will post 12.73 earnings per share for the current year.

Accenture Dividend Announcement

The business 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. This represents a $6.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 9th. Accenture's payout ratio is 53.40%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Accenture

In other Accenture news, CEO Julie Spellman Sweet sold 6,057 shares of Accenture stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $241.23, for a total value of $1,461,130.11. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 15,255 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,679,963.65. The trade was a 28.42% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale 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 the business's stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 8,179 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,298,380.79. The trade was a 30.49% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold a total of 22,088 shares of company stock valued at $5,970,434 in the last three months. 0.02% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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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