Geode Capital Management LLC Acquires 218,719 Shares of Accenture PLC $ACN

Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Accenture PLC (NYSE:ACN) by 1.5% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 14,656,436 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock after buying an additional 218,719 shares during the quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Accenture were worth $3,922,212,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. Running Oak Capital LLC grew its position 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 valued at $14,190,000 after purchasing an additional 7,190 shares during the last quarter. Weitz Investment Management Inc. grew its position 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 valued at $39,592,000 after purchasing an additional 35,900 shares during the last quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas grew its position 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 valued at $75,752,000 after purchasing an additional 61,314 shares during the last quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board grew its position 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 valued at $99,794,000 after purchasing an additional 260,357 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC grew its position in Accenture by 197.2% during the 4th quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 141,484 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $37,960,000 after purchasing an additional 93,880 shares during the last quarter. 75.14% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Accenture Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE ACN opened at $176.69 on Thursday. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $186.26 and its 200-day moving average price is $227.25. The company has a quick ratio of 1.34, a current ratio of 1.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. The company has a market cap of $117.58 billion, a PE ratio of 14.47, a PEG ratio of 1.68 and a beta of 1.08. Accenture PLC has a 52-week low of $155.82 and a 52-week high of $321.77.

Accenture (NYSE:ACN) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, March 20th. The information technology services provider reported $2.93 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.84 by $0.09. The firm had revenue of $18.04 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $17.80 billion. Accenture had a net margin of 10.61% and a return on equity of 26.33%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 7.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $2.82 EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that Accenture PLC will post 13.87 EPS for the current year.

Accenture Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, April 9th were given a dividend of $1.63 per share. This represents a $6.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.7%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, April 9th. Accenture’s payout ratio is 53.40%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently commented on ACN. Guggenheim cut their price objective on shares of Accenture from $275.00 to $250.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, March 20th. Piper Sandler set a $282.00 price objective on shares of Accenture in a research report on Thursday, March 5th. Citigroup dropped their price target 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of Accenture from $243.00 to $247.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, March 20th. Finally, TD Cowen dropped their price target on shares of Accenture from $282.00 to $275.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, March 16th. Seventeen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and ten have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $274.50.

Insider Transactions at Accenture

In related news, CEO Atsushi Egawa sold 4,872 shares of the business’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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 12,802 shares in the company, 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 SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Company 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.