Xponance LLC Grows Stock Holdings in Accenture PLC $ACN

Xponance LLC raised its holdings in Accenture PLC (NYSE:ACN) by 6.1% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 111,317 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 6,442 shares during the period. Xponance LLC’s holdings in Accenture were worth $29,866,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Weitz Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Accenture by 28.8% in the third 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 in the last quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas lifted its holdings in shares of Accenture by 27.7% in the fourth 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 in the last quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board raised its position in shares of Accenture by 180.4% in the third 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 buying an additional 260,357 shares during the last quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Accenture by 197.2% in the fourth quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 141,484 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $37,960,000 after buying an additional 93,880 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank raised its position in shares of Accenture by 36.6% in the fourth quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 557,516 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $149,582,000 after buying an additional 149,357 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.14% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ACN has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on shares of Accenture from $320.00 to $240.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, March 16th. BMO Capital Markets cut their price objective on shares of Accenture from $300.00 to $230.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, March 20th. HSBC cut their price objective on shares of Accenture from $220.00 to $210.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 14th. Robert W. Baird cut their price objective on shares of Accenture from $330.00 to $265.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, March 20th. Finally, Mizuho cut their price objective on shares of Accenture from $309.00 to $280.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, March 23rd. Seventeen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and ten have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $259.89.

Accenture Price Performance

Accenture stock opened at $167.69 on Friday. Accenture PLC has a 52-week low of $155.82 and a 52-week high of $318.62. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $182.33 and a 200-day moving average of $222.20. The firm has a market capitalization of $111.59 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.73, a PEG ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 1.08. The company has a quick ratio of 1.34, a current ratio of 1.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16.

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

Accenture Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Accenture

In other news, CEO Atsushi Egawa sold 4,872 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $177.14, for a total value of $863,026.08. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 12,802 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,267,746.28. This represents a 27.57% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 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.