HMS Capital Management LLC Has $538,000 Stock Position in Accenture PLC $ACN

HMS Capital Management LLC cut its holdings in shares of Accenture PLC (NYSE:ACN) by 58.0% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 2,006 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock after selling 2,767 shares during the period. HMS Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Accenture were worth $538,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Running Oak Capital LLC grew its holdings in Accenture by 14.3% during the third quarter. Running Oak Capital LLC now owns 57,541 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $14,190,000 after buying an additional 7,190 shares in the last quarter. Weitz Investment Management Inc. lifted 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. D.A. Davidson & CO. boosted its holdings in Accenture by 17.4% during the 3rd quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. now owns 258,599 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $63,771,000 after acquiring an additional 38,325 shares during the last quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board boosted its holdings in Accenture by 180.4% during 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 acquiring an additional 260,357 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Merit Financial Group LLC grew its stake in shares of Accenture by 25.5% in the 3rd quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC now owns 22,401 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $5,524,000 after acquiring an additional 4,552 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 75.14% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Accenture

In other Accenture news, CAO Melissa A. Burgum sold 3,588 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, January 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $281.01, for a total value of $1,008,263.88. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 8,179 shares in the company, valued at $2,298,380.79. The trade was a 30.49% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, General Counsel Joel Unruch sold 1,026 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, January 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $281.70, for a total value of $289,024.20. Following the transaction, the general counsel owned 27,181 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,656,887.70. The trade was a 3.64% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 22,088 shares of company stock valued at $5,970,434. 0.02% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Accenture Stock Performance

NYSE ACN opened at $196.98 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $131.08 billion, a PE ratio of 16.13, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.88 and a beta of 1.27. 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 PLC has a 52-week low of $187.00 and a 52-week high of $325.71. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $220.50 and a 200 day simple moving average of $243.69.

Accenture (NYSE:ACN) last released its earnings results on Thursday, March 19th. The information technology services provider reported $2.93 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.84 by $0.09. Accenture had a net margin of 10.61% and a return on equity of 26.33%. The firm had revenue of $18.04 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $17.80 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $2.82 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 7.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts predict that Accenture PLC will post 12.73 EPS for the current year.

Accenture Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 9th will be given a $1.63 dividend. This represents a $6.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 9th. Accenture’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 53.40%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently weighed in on ACN. Wolfe Research raised their price target on shares of Accenture from $300.00 to $330.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 11th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased their price objective on shares of Accenture from $280.00 to $230.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, March 6th. Rothschild & Co Redburn boosted their target price on Accenture from $205.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, January 5th. Mizuho reduced their target price on Accenture from $309.00 to $280.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, March 23rd. Finally, Guggenheim decreased their price target on Accenture from $275.00 to $250.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, March 20th. Eighteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and ten have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $274.88.

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.