Verity & Verity LLC Raises Position in Accenture PLC $ACN

Verity & Verity LLC raised its holdings in Accenture PLC (NYSE:ACN) by 4.3% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 68,911 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock after buying an additional 2,849 shares during the period. Accenture makes up approximately 1.4% of Verity & Verity LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 27th largest position. Verity & Verity LLC’s holdings in Accenture were worth $18,489,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Triumph Capital Management acquired a new stake in shares of Accenture in the 3rd quarter valued at $26,000. Board of the Pension Protection Fund acquired a new stake in shares of Accenture in the 4th quarter valued at $27,000. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Accenture in the 4th quarter valued at $27,000. Private Wealth Management Group LLC raised its holdings in shares of Accenture by 96.4% in the 4th 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Steph & Co. raised its holdings in shares of Accenture by 107.5% in the 4th quarter. Steph & Co. now owns 110 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 57 shares in the last quarter. 75.14% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Accenture Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:ACN opened at $187.32 on Friday. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $185.71 and its 200 day moving average price is $226.50. Accenture PLC has a 12 month low of $155.82 and a 12 month high of $321.77. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 1.34 and a quick ratio of 1.34. The firm has a market capitalization of $124.65 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.34, a P/E/G ratio of 1.78 and a beta of 1.08.

Accenture (NYSE:ACN) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, March 20th. The information technology services provider reported $2.93 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.84 by $0.09. The company 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 quarterly revenue was up 7.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $2.82 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Accenture PLC will post 13.87 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Accenture Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 15th. Shareholders 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.5%. Accenture’s payout ratio is currently 53.40%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ACN has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. UBS Group restated a “buy” rating on shares of Accenture in a report on Tuesday, March 17th. Guggenheim reduced their price objective on shares of Accenture from $275.00 to $250.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, March 20th. Mizuho reduced their price objective on shares of Accenture from $309.00 to $280.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, March 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of Accenture from $243.00 to $247.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, March 20th. Finally, Citigroup cut their price target on shares of Accenture from $266.00 to $215.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 25th. Seventeen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and ten have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Accenture has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $274.50.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Accenture news, CEO Atsushi Egawa sold 4,872 shares of Accenture 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 transaction, 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 transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Corporate insiders own 0.02% of the company’s stock.

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.