Lombard Odier Asset Management Europe Ltd Invests $4.36 Million in Accenture PLC $ACN

Lombard Odier Asset Management Europe Ltd bought a new stake in Accenture PLC (NYSE:ACN) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund bought 16,250 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $4,360,000.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Clark Capital Management Group Inc. increased its position in Accenture by 139.5% in the 4th quarter. Clark Capital Management Group Inc. now owns 435,499 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $116,844,000 after buying an additional 253,652 shares in the last quarter. Crawford Investment Counsel Inc. raised its position in shares of Accenture by 28.7% during the fourth quarter. Crawford Investment Counsel Inc. now owns 495,336 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $132,899,000 after purchasing an additional 110,420 shares during the period. Kemnay Advisory Services Inc. acquired a new stake in Accenture in the 4th quarter valued at $66,000. Captrust Financial Advisors grew its position in Accenture by 13.9% in the 4th quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 102,597 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $27,527,000 after purchasing an additional 12,523 shares during the period. Finally, Artisan Partners Limited Partnership grew its position in Accenture by 4.8% in the 4th quarter. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership now owns 542,448 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $145,539,000 after purchasing an additional 24,951 shares during the period. 75.14% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Guggenheim reduced their price target on shares of Accenture from $250.00 to $225.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, June 11th. Morgan Stanley reissued an “equal weight” rating and issued a $177.00 price target (down from $240.00) on shares of Accenture in a research report on Monday. BMO Capital Markets reduced their price target 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. Piper Sandler set a $282.00 price objective on Accenture in a report on Thursday, March 5th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Accenture in a report on Tuesday, June 9th. Sixteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eleven have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Accenture has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $242.41.

Key Stories Impacting Accenture

Here are the key news stories impacting Accenture this week:

• Negative Sentiment: Susquehanna cut its price target on Accenture to $186 from $222 and kept a neutral rating, adding to the cautious tone around the stock ahead of earnings. Susquehanna adjusts price target on Accenture
• Negative Sentiment: Jefferies also lowered its target on Accenture to $185 from $210 and maintained a hold rating, reinforcing concerns that near-term upside may be limited. Jefferies adjusts price target on Accenture
• Neutral Sentiment: Investors are waiting for Accenture’s fiscal third-quarter results on June 18, with expectations for revenue and EPS growth that could determine whether the recent weakness continues or reverses. Accenture set to report Q3 earnings
• Neutral Sentiment: Accenture is also in the spotlight after Unilever said it is scaling AI-enabled digital twins across its manufacturing network with Accenture, highlighting ongoing enterprise AI work, though the announcement is not a major immediate catalyst. Unilever scales digital twins across global manufacturing network with Accenture
• Neutral Sentiment: Accenture received an award recognizing its AI innovation across its workforce, which supports the company’s AI narrative but is unlikely to move the stock on its own. Accenture award underscores AI role

Insider Transactions at Accenture

In other Accenture news, CEO Atsushi Egawa sold 4,872 shares of Accenture stock in a transaction dated 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 owned 12,802 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,267,746.28. The trade was a 27.57% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. 0.02% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Accenture Stock Performance

NYSE ACN opened at $165.84 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $110.36 billion, a PE ratio of 13.58, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.57 and a beta of 1.08. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $180.37 and a 200 day simple moving average of $220.51. Accenture PLC has a 52-week low of $155.82 and a 52-week high of $315.95. 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 (NYSE:ACN) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, March 20th. The information technology services provider reported $2.93 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 analyst estimates of $17.80 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.82 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts predict that Accenture PLC will post 13.83 EPS for the current year.

Accenture Dividend Announcement

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

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.