Fourier Capital Management Ltd Acquires New Stake in Accenture PLC $ACN

Fourier Capital Management Ltd acquired a new stake in Accenture PLC (NYSE:ACN) in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm acquired 4,737 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,271,000. Accenture accounts for 1.4% of Fourier Capital Management Ltd’s holdings, making the stock its 17th largest holding.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Board of the Pension Protection Fund acquired a new stake in Accenture in the fourth quarter valued at $27,000. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Accenture in the fourth quarter valued at $27,000. Triumph Capital Management acquired a new stake in Accenture in the third quarter valued at $26,000. Private Wealth Management Group LLC increased its holdings in Accenture by 96.4% in the fourth quarter. Private Wealth Management Group LLC now owns 108 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 53 shares during the period. Finally, Steph & Co. grew its holdings in Accenture by 107.5% during the 4th quarter. Steph & Co. now owns 110 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $30,000 after acquiring an additional 57 shares during the period. 75.14% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at Accenture

In other Accenture news, CEO Atsushi Egawa sold 4,872 shares of Accenture 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 transaction, the chief executive officer owned 12,802 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,267,746.28. This trade represents a 27.57% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. 0.02% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Accenture Price Performance

Shares of NYSE ACN opened at $159.68 on Thursday. Accenture PLC has a fifty-two week low of $155.82 and a fifty-two week high of $324.00. The stock has a market cap of $106.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.08, a PEG ratio of 1.61 and a beta of 1.08. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a quick ratio of 1.34 and a current ratio of 1.34. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $192.27 and its 200 day simple moving average is $232.35.

Accenture (NYSE:ACN) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, March 20th. The information technology services provider reported $2.93 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 business had revenue of $18.04 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $17.80 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $2.82 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts anticipate 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 will be paid on Friday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 9th will be given a dividend of $1.63 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 9th. This represents a $6.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.1%. Accenture’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 53.40%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have weighed in on ACN shares. Mizuho decreased 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. Berenberg Bank started coverage on Accenture in a report on Thursday, January 22nd. They set a “buy” rating and a $313.00 price target for the company. TD Cowen decreased their price target on Accenture from $282.00 to $275.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday, March 16th. UBS Group reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Accenture in a research report on Tuesday, March 17th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of Accenture from $251.00 to $275.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 14th. Seventeen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and ten have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target 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.