Independent Advisor Alliance Decreases Holdings in Accenture PLC $ACN

Independent Advisor Alliance trimmed its holdings in shares of Accenture PLC (NYSE:ACN) by 28.2% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 14,398 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock after selling 5,653 shares during the period. Independent Advisor Alliance’s holdings in Accenture were worth $3,863,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Brighton Jones LLC grew its stake in shares of Accenture by 36.2% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 18,438 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $6,486,000 after buying an additional 4,905 shares in the last quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of Accenture by 46.9% in the second quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC now owns 2,066 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $618,000 after buying an additional 660 shares in the last quarter. United Bank grew its stake in shares of Accenture by 49.8% in the second quarter. United Bank now owns 3,639 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $1,088,000 after buying an additional 1,209 shares in the last quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia grew its stake in shares of Accenture by 23.0% in the second quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia now owns 828 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $247,000 after buying an additional 155 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Main Street Financial Solutions LLC raised its stake in shares of Accenture by 4.2% during the second quarter. Main Street Financial Solutions LLC now owns 1,767 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $528,000 after purchasing an additional 72 shares during the period. 75.14% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

ACN has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Piper Sandler set a $282.00 price objective on shares of Accenture in a research note on Thursday, March 5th. Berenberg Bank assumed coverage on shares of Accenture in a report on Thursday, January 22nd. They issued a “buy” rating and a $313.00 price objective on the stock. Royal Bank Of Canada cut their price objective on shares of Accenture from $295.00 to $253.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, March 20th. UBS Group reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Accenture in a report on Tuesday, March 17th. Finally, TD Cowen reduced 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. Seventeen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and ten have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Accenture 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 firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $177.14, for a total transaction of $863,026.08. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 12,802 shares in the company, valued at $2,267,746.28. This trade represents a 27.57% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. 0.02% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Accenture Price Performance

ACN opened at $159.68 on Thursday. The company has a 50-day moving average of $192.27 and a 200-day moving average of $232.35. The company has a market capitalization of $106.26 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.08, a PEG ratio of 1.61 and a beta of 1.08. Accenture PLC has a 1-year low of $155.82 and a 1-year high of $324.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a quick ratio of 1.34 and a current ratio of 1.34.

Accenture (NYSE:ACN) last released its earnings results on Friday, March 20th. The information technology services provider reported $2.93 earnings per share 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 the consensus estimate of $17.80 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $2.82 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 7.8% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts expect that Accenture PLC will post 13.87 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Accenture Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, April 9th will be paid a dividend of $1.63 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 9th. This represents a $6.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.1%. Accenture’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 53.40%.

Accenture 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.