Naples Global Advisors LLC Raises Holdings in Accenture PLC $ACN

Naples Global Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Accenture PLC (NYSE:ACN) by 11.2% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 36,408 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock after buying an additional 3,664 shares during the quarter. Naples Global Advisors LLC’s holdings in Accenture were worth $9,768,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Jaffetilchin Investment Partners LLC boosted its stake in shares of Accenture by 4.2% in the fourth quarter. Jaffetilchin Investment Partners LLC now owns 878 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $236,000 after buying an additional 35 shares during the last quarter. Clayton Financial Group LLC boosted its stake in shares of Accenture by 13.1% in the fourth quarter. Clayton Financial Group LLC now owns 329 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $88,000 after buying an additional 38 shares during the last quarter. Holt Capital Advisors L.L.C. dba Holt Capital Partners L.P. boosted its stake in shares of Accenture by 0.9% in the third 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 buying an additional 41 shares during the last quarter. SkyView Investment Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Accenture by 1.2% in the second quarter. SkyView Investment Advisors LLC now owns 3,751 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $1,108,000 after buying an additional 43 shares during the last quarter. Finally, IVC Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Accenture by 5.0% in the fourth quarter. IVC Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 927 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $249,000 after buying an additional 44 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.14% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Accenture news, CEO Atsushi Egawa sold 4,872 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $177.14, for a total transaction of $863,026.08. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 12,802 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,267,746.28. This represents a 27.57% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO Julie Spellman Sweet sold 6,057 shares of the 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 transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 15,255 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,679,963.65. The trade was a 28.42% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. 0.02% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have recently commented on ACN shares. Berenberg Bank started coverage on Accenture in a research note on Thursday, January 22nd. They issued a “buy” rating and a $313.00 target price on the stock. BMO Capital Markets lowered their target price on Accenture from $300.00 to $230.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, March 20th. Guggenheim reduced their price target on Accenture from $275.00 to $250.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, March 20th. Mizuho reduced their price target on Accenture from $309.00 to $280.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, March 23rd. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reduced their price target on Accenture from $280.00 to $230.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Friday, March 6th. Seventeen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and ten have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Accenture has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $274.50.

Accenture Stock Performance

NYSE ACN opened at $180.41 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $120.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.78, a PEG ratio of 1.71 and a beta of 1.08. Accenture PLC has a twelve month low of $172.52 and a twelve month high of $325.71. 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 stock has a 50-day moving average of $194.89 and a 200 day moving average of $234.53.

Accenture (NYSE:ACN) last released its quarterly earnings results 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 company had revenue of $18.04 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $17.80 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $2.82 EPS. Accenture’s quarterly revenue was up 7.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Accenture PLC will post 13.87 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Accenture Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 9th will be issued 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 3.6%. Accenture’s dividend payout ratio is presently 53.40%.

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.