Accenture PLC $ACN Shares Sold by Plancorp LLC

Plancorp LLC reduced its stake in shares of Accenture PLC (NYSE:ACN) by 75.0% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 1,226 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock after selling 3,683 shares during the period. Plancorp LLC’s holdings in Accenture were worth $329,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Brighton Jones LLC raised its stake in shares of Accenture by 36.2% during the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 18,438 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $6,486,000 after buying an additional 4,905 shares during the last quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC lifted its holdings in Accenture by 46.9% in the 2nd quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC now owns 2,066 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $618,000 after purchasing an additional 660 shares in the last quarter. United Bank lifted its holdings in Accenture by 49.8% in the 2nd quarter. United Bank now owns 3,639 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $1,088,000 after purchasing an additional 1,209 shares in the last quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia lifted its holdings in Accenture by 23.0% in the 2nd quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia now owns 828 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $247,000 after purchasing an additional 155 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Main Street Financial Solutions LLC lifted its holdings in Accenture by 4.2% in the 2nd quarter. Main Street Financial Solutions LLC now owns 1,767 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $528,000 after purchasing an additional 72 shares in the last quarter. 75.14% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Robert W. Baird reduced their target price on shares of Accenture from $330.00 to $265.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, March 20th. Royal Bank Of Canada dropped their price objective on shares of Accenture from $295.00 to $253.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, March 20th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft dropped 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. UBS Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Accenture in a research note on Tuesday, March 17th. Finally, TD Cowen dropped their price objective on shares of Accenture from $282.00 to $275.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, March 16th. Seventeen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and ten have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $274.50.

Insider Activity

In other Accenture news, CEO Atsushi Egawa sold 4,872 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 12,802 shares in the company, valued at $2,267,746.28. This represents a 27.57% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders own 0.02% of the company’s stock.

Accenture Stock Up 2.7%

Shares of NYSE:ACN opened at $164.01 on Friday. 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 1 year low of $155.82 and a 1 year high of $324.00. The stock has a market capitalization of $109.14 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.43, a PEG ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 1.08. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $191.36 and a 200-day simple moving average of $231.76.

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 business had revenue of $18.04 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $17.80 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $2.82 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.8% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts forecast that Accenture PLC will post 13.87 earnings per share for the current year.

Accenture Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 9th will be issued 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 dividend yield of 4.0%. Accenture’s payout ratio is presently 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.