Mach 1 Financial Group LLC Acquires Shares of 3,985 Accenture PLC $ACN

Mach 1 Financial Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Accenture PLC (NYSE:ACN) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 3,985 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,069,000.

A number of other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in ACN. Capital International Investors lifted its position in shares of Accenture by 41.1% during 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 purchasing an additional 4,984,930 shares in the last quarter. Voloridge Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Accenture during the third quarter valued at approximately $311,694,000. Capital World Investors purchased a new stake in shares of Accenture during the third quarter valued at approximately $268,578,000. First Trust Advisors LP increased its position in shares of Accenture by 85.9% during the third 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 during the last quarter. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Accenture by 268.3% during the third quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 1,252,334 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $308,826,000 after acquiring an additional 912,348 shares during the last quarter. 75.14% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently commented on ACN. Guggenheim decreased their price target on Accenture from $275.00 to $250.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, March 20th. Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on Accenture from $320.00 to $240.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, March 16th. Berenberg Bank initiated coverage on shares of Accenture in a research report on Thursday, January 22nd. They issued a “buy” rating and a $313.00 price objective on the stock. Citigroup lowered their price objective on shares of Accenture from $266.00 to $215.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 25th. Finally, Truist Financial lowered their price objective on shares of Accenture from $317.00 to $260.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, March 10th. Seventeen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and ten have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $274.50.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Atsushi Egawa sold 4,872 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $177.14, for a total transaction of $863,026.08. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 12,802 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,267,746.28. This represents a 27.57% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible 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 Stock Performance

Accenture stock opened at $179.12 on Thursday. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $188.33 and its 200 day simple moving average is $229.64. 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 $119.19 billion, a PE ratio of 14.67, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.68 and a beta of 1.08. Accenture PLC has a 1-year low of $155.82 and a 1-year high of $322.86.

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

Accenture Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, April 9th were issued a dividend of $1.63 per share. This represents a $6.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, April 9th. Accenture’s dividend payout ratio is 53.40%.

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.