Teacher Retirement System of Texas Boosts Stock Holdings in Accenture PLC $ACN

Key Points

• Teacher Retirement System of Texas boosted its Accenture stake 27.7% in Q4 to 282,340 shares (an additional 61,314 shares), valuing the holding at about $75.75 million.
• Accenture beat quarterly expectations with EPS of $2.93 vs. $2.84 and revenue of $18.04 billion, a 7.8% year-over-year increase.
• Accenture announced a quarterly dividend of $1.63 per share (annualized $6.52), implying a ~3.4% yield; the ex-dividend date is April 9 and payment is May 15.

Teacher Retirement System of Texas lifted its stake in shares of Accenture PLC (NYSE:ACN - Free Report) by 27.7% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 282,340 shares of the information technology services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 61,314 shares during the period. Teacher Retirement System of Texas' holdings in Accenture were worth $75,752,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Jaffetilchin Investment Partners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Accenture by 4.2% during the 4th quarter. Jaffetilchin Investment Partners LLC now owns 878 shares of the information technology services provider's stock worth $236,000 after purchasing an additional 35 shares during the last quarter. Clayton Financial Group LLC boosted its holdings in shares of 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 last quarter. Holt Capital Advisors L.L.C. dba Holt Capital Partners L.P. boosted its holdings in shares of 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 last quarter. SkyView Investment Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of 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 last quarter. Finally, IVC Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Accenture by 5.0% during the 4th quarter. IVC Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 927 shares of the information technology services provider's stock worth $249,000 after purchasing an additional 44 shares during the last quarter. 75.14% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Accenture Stock Down 2.2%

Accenture stock opened at $190.09 on Thursday. Accenture PLC has a twelve month low of $177.50 and a twelve month high of $325.71. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $201.61 and its 200-day simple moving average is $238.77. The company has a current ratio of 1.34, a quick ratio of 1.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. The firm has a market capitalization of $126.49 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.57, a P/E/G ratio of 1.84 and a beta of 1.24.

Accenture (NYSE:ACN - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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. Accenture had a return on equity of 26.33% and a net margin of 10.61%.The business had revenue of $18.04 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $17.80 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $2.82 earnings per share. The company's revenue was up 7.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts expect that Accenture PLC will post 13.87 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Accenture Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 15th. Stockholders 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.4%. Accenture's dividend payout ratio is currently 53.40%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Accenture

In related news, CEO Julie Spellman Sweet sold 6,057 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $241.23, for a total value of $1,461,130.11. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 15,255 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,679,963.65. This represents a 28.42% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Melissa A. Burgum sold 3,588 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, January 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $281.01, for a total value of $1,008,263.88. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 8,179 shares in the company, valued at $2,298,380.79. This trade represents a 30.49% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. 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.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently commented on ACN. Truist Financial decreased their price objective on Accenture from $317.00 to $260.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, March 10th. Royal Bank Of Canada decreased their price objective on Accenture from $295.00 to $253.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, March 20th. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on Accenture from $320.00 to $240.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, March 16th. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price objective on Accenture from $270.00 to $280.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, January 8th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased their price objective on Accenture from $280.00 to $230.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, March 6th. Seventeen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and ten have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $274.50.

Accenture Company 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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