Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. Sells 5,188 Shares of Accenture PLC $ACN

Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. lowered its stake in shares of Accenture PLC (NYSE:ACN) by 5.5% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 89,578 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock after selling 5,188 shares during the period. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co.’s holdings in Accenture were worth $24,034,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in ACN. Brighton Jones LLC grew its holdings in Accenture by 36.2% during the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 18,438 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $6,486,000 after acquiring an additional 4,905 shares during the last quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC boosted its stake in shares of Accenture by 46.9% in the 2nd quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC now owns 2,066 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $618,000 after purchasing an additional 660 shares during the last quarter. United Bank boosted its stake in shares of Accenture by 49.8% in the 2nd quarter. United Bank now owns 3,639 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $1,088,000 after purchasing an additional 1,209 shares during the last quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia boosted its stake in shares of Accenture by 23.0% in the 2nd quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia now owns 828 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $247,000 after purchasing an additional 155 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Main Street Financial Solutions LLC boosted its stake in shares of Accenture by 4.2% in the 2nd 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 last quarter. Institutional investors own 75.14% of the company’s stock.

Accenture Stock Up 0.1%

Accenture stock opened at $187.32 on Monday. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $185.71 and its 200 day simple moving average is $226.37. Accenture PLC has a fifty-two week low of $155.82 and a fifty-two week high of $321.77. The firm has a market capitalization of $124.65 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.34, a PEG ratio of 1.77 and a beta of 1.09. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 1.34 and a quick ratio of 1.34.

Accenture (NYSE:ACN) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 business had revenue of $18.04 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $17.80 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $2.82 EPS. Accenture’s quarterly revenue was up 7.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Accenture PLC will post 13.87 EPS for the current year.

Accenture Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, April 9th were paid a dividend of $1.63 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, April 9th. This represents a $6.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.5%. Accenture’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 53.40%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on ACN shares. Citigroup reduced their target price 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. Mizuho reduced their target price on shares of Accenture from $309.00 to $280.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, March 23rd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reduced their target price on shares of Accenture from $280.00 to $230.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, March 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of Accenture from $243.00 to $247.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, March 20th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada reduced their target price on shares of Accenture from $295.00 to $253.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, March 20th. Seventeen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and ten have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $274.50.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related 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 legal filing 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. 0.02% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.