Soltis Investment Advisors LLC Acquires 11,754 Shares of Accenture PLC $ACN

Soltis Investment Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Accenture PLC (NYSE:ACN) by 78.9% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 26,660 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 11,754 shares during the quarter. Soltis Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in Accenture were worth $7,153,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Brighton Jones LLC boosted its holdings in 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 acquiring an additional 4,905 shares during the last quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC boosted its holdings in Accenture by 46.9% in the second quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC now owns 2,066 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $618,000 after acquiring an additional 660 shares during the last quarter. United Bank boosted its holdings in Accenture by 49.8% in the second quarter. United Bank now owns 3,639 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $1,088,000 after acquiring an additional 1,209 shares during the last quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia boosted its holdings in Accenture by 23.0% in the second quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia now owns 828 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $247,000 after acquiring an additional 155 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Main Street Financial Solutions LLC boosted its holdings in Accenture by 4.2% in the second quarter. Main Street Financial Solutions LLC now owns 1,767 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $528,000 after acquiring an additional 72 shares during the last quarter. 75.14% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Atsushi Egawa sold 4,872 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $177.14, for a total value of $863,026.08. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 12,802 shares in the company, valued at $2,267,746.28. This trade represents a 27.57% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. 0.02% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Accenture Price Performance

Shares of ACN opened at $168.94 on Friday. Accenture PLC has a 12-month low of $155.82 and a 12-month high of $322.86. The business’s fifty day moving average is $190.50 and its 200 day moving average is $231.32. 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 cap of $112.42 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.84, a P/E/G ratio of 1.60 and a beta of 1.08.

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 company had revenue of $18.04 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $17.80 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $2.82 EPS. Accenture’s quarterly revenue was up 7.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Accenture PLC will post 13.87 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Accenture Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, April 9th were issued a $1.63 dividend. This represents a $6.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.9%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, April 9th. Accenture’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 53.40%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts recently commented on ACN shares. Truist Financial reduced their target price on Accenture from $317.00 to $260.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, March 10th. Berenberg Bank started coverage on Accenture in a report on Thursday, January 22nd. They issued a “buy” rating and a $313.00 target price on the stock. Royal Bank Of Canada reduced their target price on Accenture from $295.00 to $253.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, March 20th. BMO Capital Markets reduced their target price on Accenture from $300.00 to $230.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, March 20th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on Accenture from $243.00 to $247.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, March 20th. Seventeen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and ten have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target 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.