Oak Thistle LLC Takes Position in Accenture PLC $ACN

Oak Thistle LLC acquired a new stake in Accenture PLC (NYSE:ACN) during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund acquired 8,510 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $2,283,000.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of ACN. Brighton Jones LLC raised its position in shares of Accenture by 36.2% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 18,438 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $6,486,000 after purchasing an additional 4,905 shares during the period. Sivia Capital Partners LLC increased its position in Accenture by 46.9% during the second quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC now owns 2,066 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $618,000 after acquiring an additional 660 shares during the period. United Bank increased its position in Accenture by 49.8% during the second quarter. United Bank now owns 3,639 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $1,088,000 after acquiring an additional 1,209 shares during the period. Baker Avenue Asset Management LP increased its position in Accenture by 14.0% during the second quarter. Baker Avenue Asset Management LP now owns 4,184 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $1,250,000 after acquiring an additional 515 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of Nova Scotia increased its position in Accenture by 23.0% during the second quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia now owns 828 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $247,000 after acquiring an additional 155 shares during the period. 75.14% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other Accenture news, CEO John F. Walsh sold 3,986 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $276.38, for a total transaction of $1,101,650.68. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 27,221 shares in the company, valued at $7,523,339.98. This represents a 12.77% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, COO Catherine Kiernan Hogan sold 660 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $280.93, for a total transaction of $185,413.80. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer owned 12,688 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,564,439.84. The trade was a 4.94% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last three months, insiders sold 20,256 shares of company stock valued at $5,464,134. Company insiders own 0.02% of the company’s stock.

Accenture Trading Down 0.8%

Shares of Accenture stock opened at $197.36 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $131.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.16, a PEG ratio of 1.91 and a beta of 1.24. The company has a quick ratio of 1.34, a current ratio of 1.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. Accenture PLC has a 12-month low of $187.00 and a 12-month high of $325.71. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $214.01 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $242.61.

Accenture (NYSE:ACN) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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. The firm had revenue of $18.04 billion for 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 business’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $2.82 earnings per share. On average, analysts forecast that Accenture PLC will post 12.73 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Accenture Dividend Announcement

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts recently commented on the stock. Citigroup lowered their price target on shares of Accenture from $266.00 to $215.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 25th. Mizuho lowered their price target on shares of Accenture from $309.00 to $280.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, March 23rd. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price target on shares of Accenture from $270.00 to $280.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 8th. Robert W. Baird lowered their price target on shares of Accenture from $330.00 to $265.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, March 20th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of Accenture from $243.00 to $247.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, March 20th. Eighteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and ten have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Accenture presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $274.88.

Accenture Company 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.