US Bancorp DE Trims Position in Accenture PLC $ACN

Key Points

• US Bancorp DE trimmed its stake in Accenture by 9.4% in Q4, selling 100,212 shares and leaving it with 961,922 shares worth about $258.1 million (≈0.16% of the company).
• Accenture beat Q results with $2.93 EPS (vs. $2.84 est.) and $18.04 billion in revenue (up 7.8% YoY), and announced a quarterly dividend of $1.63 ($6.52 annual, ~3.6% yield).
• Analyst sentiment is mixed-to-positive: 17 Buys and 10 Holds produce a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" with an average price target of $274.50, though several firms recently revised targets.

US Bancorp DE lessened its stake in Accenture PLC (NYSE:ACN - Free Report) by 9.4% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 961,922 shares of the information technology services provider's stock after selling 100,212 shares during the period. US Bancorp DE owned 0.16% of Accenture worth $258,084,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in ACN. Running Oak Capital LLC grew its holdings in Accenture by 14.3% during the 3rd quarter. Running Oak Capital LLC now owns 57,541 shares of the information technology services provider's stock worth $14,190,000 after acquiring an additional 7,190 shares in the last quarter. Weitz Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in Accenture by 28.8% during the 3rd quarter. Weitz Investment Management Inc. now owns 160,550 shares of the information technology services provider's stock worth $39,592,000 after acquiring an additional 35,900 shares in the last quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. grew its holdings in Accenture by 17.4% during the 3rd quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. now owns 258,599 shares of the information technology services provider's stock worth $63,771,000 after acquiring an additional 38,325 shares in the last quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas grew its holdings in Accenture by 27.7% during the 4th quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas now owns 282,340 shares of the information technology services provider's stock worth $75,752,000 after acquiring an additional 61,314 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Public Sector Pension Investment Board grew its holdings in Accenture by 180.4% during the 3rd quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 404,680 shares of the information technology services provider's stock worth $99,794,000 after acquiring an additional 260,357 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.14% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ACN has been the topic of several recent research reports. Rothschild & Co Redburn increased their target price on shares of Accenture from $205.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Monday, January 5th. Citigroup dropped their target price on shares of Accenture from $266.00 to $215.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 25th. Mizuho dropped their target price on shares of Accenture from $309.00 to $280.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, March 23rd. Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on shares of Accenture from $320.00 to $240.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, March 16th. Finally, UBS Group restated a "buy" rating on shares of Accenture in a report on Tuesday, March 17th. Seventeen investment 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, Accenture currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $274.50.

Accenture Stock Up 1.4%

NYSE:ACN opened at $180.26 on Thursday. Accenture PLC has a fifty-two week low of $173.84 and a fifty-two week high of $325.71. The stock has a market capitalization of $119.95 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.76, a P/E/G ratio of 1.68 and a beta of 1.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a quick ratio of 1.34 and a current ratio of 1.34. The company's 50-day simple moving average is $197.17 and its 200-day simple moving average is $236.29.

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, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.84 by $0.09. Accenture had a net margin of 10.61% and a return on equity of 26.33%. The business had revenue of $18.04 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $17.80 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $2.82 EPS. The company's revenue was up 7.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Accenture PLC will post 13.87 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Accenture Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Julie Spellman Sweet sold 6,057 shares of Accenture stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 15,255 shares in the company, valued at $3,679,963.65. This trade represents a 28.42% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 0.02% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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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