North Dakota State Investment Board Invests $5.76 Million in Accenture PLC $ACN

North Dakota State Investment Board bought a new position in shares of Accenture PLC (NYSE:ACN) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor bought 21,471 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $5,761,000.

Several other large investors have also bought and sold shares of ACN. Capital International Investors boosted its stake in Accenture by 41.1% in the third quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 17,128,134 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $4,223,839,000 after buying an additional 4,984,930 shares in the last quarter. Voloridge Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Accenture during the third quarter worth $311,694,000. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its stake in shares of Accenture by 12.8% in the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 10,147,796 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $2,502,446,000 after acquiring an additional 1,148,970 shares during the last quarter. Capital World Investors bought a new position in shares of Accenture in the 3rd quarter valued at $268,578,000. Finally, First Trust Advisors LP boosted its holdings in shares of Accenture by 85.9% during the 3rd quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 2,041,945 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $503,544,000 after acquiring an additional 943,371 shares in the last quarter. 75.14% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at Accenture

In other Accenture 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 directly 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 sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Company insiders own 0.02% of the company’s stock.

Accenture Price Performance

Accenture stock opened at $168.94 on Monday. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $190.50 and its 200 day moving average is $231.18. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 1.34 and a quick ratio of 1.34. The firm has a market cap of $112.42 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.84, a P/E/G ratio of 1.60 and a beta of 1.08. Accenture PLC has a one year low of $155.82 and a one year high of $322.86.

Accenture (NYSE:ACN) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 company 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%.The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 7.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $2.82 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect that Accenture PLC will post 13.87 EPS for the current year.

Accenture Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 9th were paid a $1.63 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, April 9th. This represents a $6.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.9%. Accenture’s payout ratio is 53.40%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have issued reports on ACN. Robert W. Baird lowered their target price on Accenture from $330.00 to $265.00 and set an “outperform” 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 on the stock in a report on Monday, March 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on Accenture from $243.00 to $247.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, March 20th. Truist Financial reduced their price target on Accenture from $317.00 to $260.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, March 10th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reduced their price target on Accenture from $280.00 to $230.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, March 6th. Seventeen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and ten have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Accenture currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price 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.