Van Lanschot Kempen Investment Management N.V. Increases Stake in Accenture PLC $ACN

Key Points

• Van Lanschot Kempen Investment Management boosted its Accenture stake by 66.8% in the fourth quarter, adding 59,614 shares to reach 148,864 shares valued at about $39.9 million.
• Other major institutional holders, including Vanguard, State Street, and Capital International Investors, also increased positions, and institutions now own 75.14% of Accenture’s shares.
• Wall Street sentiment remains constructive but mixed: Accenture has a Moderate Buy rating overall, even as several firms trimmed price targets; the stock also recently reported quarterly EPS and revenue that beat estimates.

Van Lanschot Kempen Investment Management N.V. grew its stake in Accenture PLC (NYSE:ACN - Free Report) by 66.8% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 148,864 shares of the information technology services provider's stock after buying an additional 59,614 shares during the quarter. Van Lanschot Kempen Investment Management N.V.'s holdings in Accenture were worth $39,940,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Accenture by 1.3% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 66,070,930 shares of the information technology services provider's stock worth $17,726,831,000 after acquiring an additional 854,361 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its position in shares of Accenture by 0.4% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 28,135,065 shares of the information technology services provider's stock worth $6,938,156,000 after acquiring an additional 118,460 shares in the last quarter. Capital International Investors raised its position in shares of Accenture by 2.0% during the 4th quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 17,471,554 shares of the information technology services provider's stock worth $4,687,867,000 after acquiring an additional 343,420 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Accenture by 1.5% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 14,656,436 shares of the information technology services provider's stock worth $3,922,212,000 after acquiring an additional 218,719 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its position in shares of Accenture by 5.4% during the 4th quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 10,693,994 shares of the information technology services provider's stock worth $2,869,199,000 after acquiring an additional 546,198 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.14% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on ACN. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on Accenture from $247.00 to $201.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, June 8th. Citigroup cut their target price on Accenture from $215.00 to $195.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, June 1st. Piper Sandler set a $282.00 target price on Accenture in a research report on Thursday, March 5th. Weiss Ratings reissued a "hold (c-)" rating on shares of Accenture in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, Mizuho cut their target price on Accenture from $309.00 to $280.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, March 23rd. Seventeen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and ten have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Accenture currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $259.89.

Accenture Price Performance

Shares of NYSE ACN opened at $169.95 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.34, a quick ratio of 1.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. Accenture PLC has a twelve month low of $155.82 and a twelve month high of $317.30. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $181.79 and a two-hundred day moving average of $221.83. The stock has a market cap of $113.09 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.92, a P/E/G ratio of 1.59 and a beta of 1.08.

Accenture (NYSE:ACN - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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 return on equity of 26.33% and a net margin of 10.61%.The company had revenue of $18.04 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $17.80 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $2.82 earnings per share. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 7.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts forecast that Accenture PLC will post 13.87 earnings per share for the current year.

Accenture Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 9th were issued a $1.63 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, April 9th. This represents a $6.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.8%. Accenture's payout ratio is presently 53.40%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Atsushi Egawa sold 4,872 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $177.14, for a total value of $863,026.08. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 12,802 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,267,746.28. The trade was a 27.57% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders own 0.02% of the company's stock.

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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