Accenture PLC $ACN Position Increased by Troy Asset Management Ltd

Troy Asset Management Ltd increased its stake in Accenture PLC (NYSE:ACN) by 52.9% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 120,532 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 41,710 shares during the period. Accenture accounts for 0.8% of Troy Asset Management Ltd’s portfolio, making the stock its 19th largest position. Troy Asset Management Ltd’s holdings in Accenture were worth $32,339,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Running Oak Capital LLC raised its stake 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 acquiring an additional 7,190 shares in the last quarter. Weitz Investment Management Inc. raised its stake 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 acquiring an additional 35,900 shares in the last quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas raised its stake 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 acquiring an additional 61,314 shares in the last quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board raised its stake in shares of Accenture by 180.4% in the 3rd quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 404,680 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $99,794,000 after buying an additional 260,357 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Accenture by 197.2% in the 4th quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 141,484 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $37,960,000 after buying an additional 93,880 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 75.14% of the company’s stock.

Accenture Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE ACN opened at $179.36 on Monday. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $119.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.69, a PEG ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 1.08. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $187.42 and its 200 day simple moving average is $228.65. Accenture PLC has a 52-week low of $155.82 and a 52-week high of $321.77.

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

Accenture Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 9th were issued a dividend of $1.63 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, April 9th. This represents a $6.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.6%. Accenture’s payout ratio is currently 53.40%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Accenture

In other news, CEO Atsushi Egawa sold 4,872 shares of Accenture 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 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. Corporate insiders own 0.02% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently commented on ACN. Guggenheim dropped their price objective on Accenture from $275.00 to $250.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, March 20th. Truist Financial dropped their price objective on Accenture from $317.00 to $260.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, March 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on Accenture from $243.00 to $247.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, March 20th. Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on Accenture from $320.00 to $240.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, March 16th. Finally, UBS Group reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Accenture in a research note on Tuesday, March 17th. Seventeen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and ten have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $274.50.

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.