Ninety One UK Ltd Cuts Holdings in Accenture PLC $ACN

Ninety One UK Ltd trimmed its holdings in shares of Accenture PLC (NYSE:ACN) by 5.5% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 219,428 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock after selling 12,827 shares during the quarter. Ninety One UK Ltd’s holdings in Accenture were worth $58,873,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of ACN. Capital International Investors grew its holdings in Accenture by 41.1% in the third quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 17,128,134 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $4,223,839,000 after purchasing an additional 4,984,930 shares during the last quarter. Voloridge Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in Accenture in the third quarter worth $311,694,000. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its holdings in Accenture by 12.8% in the third quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 10,147,796 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $2,502,446,000 after purchasing an additional 1,148,970 shares during the last quarter. Capital World Investors purchased a new position in Accenture in the third quarter worth $268,578,000. Finally, First Trust Advisors LP grew its holdings in Accenture by 85.9% in the third quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 2,041,945 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $503,544,000 after purchasing an additional 943,371 shares during the last quarter. 75.14% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have issued reports on ACN. 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 report on Wednesday, February 25th. TD Cowen dropped their price objective on shares of Accenture from $282.00 to $275.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, March 16th. Guggenheim dropped 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. Piper Sandler set a $282.00 price objective on shares of Accenture in a report on Thursday, March 5th. Finally, UBS Group reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Accenture in a report on Tuesday, March 17th. 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 stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $274.50.

Insider Activity at Accenture

In other Accenture news, COO Catherine Kiernan Hogan sold 660 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $280.93, for a total value of $185,413.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer owned 12,688 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,564,439.84. This represents a 4.94% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, General Counsel Joel Unruch sold 1,026 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $281.70, for a total transaction of $289,024.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the general counsel owned 27,181 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,656,887.70. This trade represents a 3.64% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold a total of 15,331 shares of company stock valued at $4,048,871 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.02% of the company’s stock.

Accenture Trading Up 1.9%

NYSE ACN opened at $197.71 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $131.56 billion, a PE ratio of 16.19, a P/E/G ratio of 1.84 and a beta of 1.24. The company has a fifty day moving average of $204.18 and a 200 day moving average of $239.90. Accenture PLC has a 1 year low of $177.50 and a 1 year high of $325.71. 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 posted its earnings results on Friday, March 20th. The information technology services provider reported $2.93 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.84 by $0.09. The company had revenue of $18.04 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $17.80 billion. Accenture had a net margin of 10.61% and a return on equity of 26.33%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 7.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.82 earnings per share. Research analysts forecast that Accenture PLC will post 12.73 earnings per share for the current year.

Accenture Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, April 9th will be given a dividend of $1.63 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 9th. This represents a $6.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.3%. Accenture’s payout ratio is currently 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.