PNC Financial Services Group Inc. Sells 19,134 Shares of Accenture PLC $ACN

PNC Financial Services Group Inc. lessened its stake in Accenture PLC (NYSE:ACN) by 2.3% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 810,153 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock after selling 19,134 shares during the period. PNC Financial Services Group Inc.’s holdings in Accenture were worth $217,364,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Jaffetilchin Investment Partners LLC grew its position in Accenture by 4.2% in the 4th quarter. Jaffetilchin Investment Partners LLC now owns 878 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $236,000 after purchasing an additional 35 shares during the period. Clayton Financial Group LLC grew its position in Accenture by 13.1% in the 4th quarter. Clayton Financial Group LLC now owns 329 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $88,000 after purchasing an additional 38 shares during the period. Holt Capital Advisors L.L.C. dba Holt Capital Partners L.P. grew its position in Accenture by 0.9% in the 3rd quarter. Holt Capital Advisors L.L.C. dba Holt Capital Partners L.P. now owns 4,416 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $1,089,000 after purchasing an additional 41 shares during the period. Peak Asset Management LLC grew its position in Accenture by 0.8% in the 4th quarter. Peak Asset Management LLC now owns 5,447 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $1,461,000 after purchasing an additional 43 shares during the period. Finally, SkyView Investment Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Accenture by 1.2% during the 2nd quarter. SkyView Investment Advisors LLC now owns 3,751 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $1,108,000 after acquiring an additional 43 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 75.14% of the company’s stock.

Accenture Stock Down 0.6%

ACN opened at $176.47 on Wednesday. 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 fifty-two week low of $155.82 and a fifty-two week high of $322.86. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $188.93 and its 200 day moving average is $230.14. The stock has a market cap of $117.43 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.45, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.68 and a beta of 1.08.

Accenture (NYSE:ACN) last released its earnings results on Friday, March 20th. 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 company had revenue of $18.04 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $17.80 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $2.82 EPS. Accenture’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts forecast 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 paid a dividend of $1.63 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, April 9th. This represents a $6.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.7%. Accenture’s payout ratio is 53.40%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Accenture

In related news, CEO Atsushi Egawa sold 4,872 shares of Accenture stock in a transaction 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 in the company, valued at approximately $2,267,746.28. The trade was a 27.57% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a 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. Company insiders own 0.02% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on ACN shares. Robert W. Baird cut their price objective on shares of Accenture from $330.00 to $265.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, March 20th. BMO Capital Markets cut their price objective on shares of Accenture from $300.00 to $230.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, March 20th. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on shares of Accenture from $320.00 to $240.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, March 16th. Mizuho cut their price objective on shares of Accenture from $309.00 to $280.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, March 23rd. Finally, Berenberg Bank started coverage on shares of Accenture in a research report on Thursday, January 22nd. They set a “buy” rating and a $313.00 price objective for the company. Seventeen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and ten have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Accenture presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $274.50.

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.