Jefferies Financial Group Inc. Grows Stake in Accenture PLC $ACN

Jefferies Financial Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Accenture PLC (NYSE:ACN) by 1,981.0% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 43,763 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 41,660 shares during the quarter. Jefferies Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in Accenture were worth $11,742,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in ACN. Running Oak Capital LLC grew its holdings in Accenture by 14.3% during the 3rd quarter. Running Oak Capital LLC now owns 57,541 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $14,190,000 after buying an additional 7,190 shares in the last quarter. Weitz Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings 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 buying an additional 35,900 shares in the last quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas grew its holdings in Accenture by 27.7% during the 4th quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas now owns 282,340 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $75,752,000 after buying an additional 61,314 shares in the last quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board grew 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 valued at $99,794,000 after buying an additional 260,357 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Accenture by 197.2% during the 4th quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 141,484 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $37,960,000 after buying an additional 93,880 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.14% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Atsushi Egawa sold 4,872 shares of the firm’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 transaction of $863,026.08. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 12,802 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,267,746.28. This trade represents a 27.57% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Corporate insiders own 0.02% of the company’s stock.

Accenture Price Performance

NYSE:ACN opened at $179.36 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $119.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.69, a PEG ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 1.08. Accenture PLC has a 1 year low of $155.82 and a 1 year high of $321.77. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $187.42 and a 200-day simple moving average of $228.65. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 1.34 and a quick ratio of 1.34.

Accenture (NYSE:ACN) last issued its quarterly 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 firm had revenue of $18.04 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $17.80 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.82 EPS. Accenture’s quarterly revenue was up 7.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts forecast that Accenture PLC will post 13.87 EPS for the current year.

Accenture Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared 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. This represents a $6.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, April 9th. Accenture’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 53.40%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have weighed in on ACN. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut their price target on Accenture from $280.00 to $230.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Friday, March 6th. Mizuho lowered their price objective on Accenture from $309.00 to $280.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, March 23rd. Truist Financial lowered their price objective on Accenture from $317.00 to $260.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, March 10th. UBS Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Accenture in a research note on Tuesday, March 17th. Finally, HSBC lowered their price objective on Accenture from $220.00 to $210.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 14th. Seventeen 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, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $274.50.

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.