Accenture PLC $ACN Shares Purchased by Benjamin Edwards Inc.

Benjamin Edwards Inc. raised its holdings in Accenture PLC (NYSE:ACN) by 3.5% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 205,900 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock after buying an additional 6,868 shares during the period. Benjamin Edwards Inc.’s holdings in Accenture were worth $55,261,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of ACN. Triumph Capital Management acquired a new stake in Accenture in the third quarter valued at $26,000. Board of the Pension Protection Fund acquired a new stake in Accenture in the fourth quarter valued at $27,000. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Accenture in the fourth quarter valued at $27,000. Davis Capital Management acquired a new stake in Accenture in the third quarter valued at $28,000. Finally, Private Wealth Management Group LLC raised its stake in Accenture by 96.4% in the fourth quarter. Private Wealth Management Group LLC now owns 108 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 53 shares in the last quarter. 75.14% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Accenture Stock Performance

Shares of ACN stock opened at $179.96 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $119.75 billion, a PE ratio of 14.74, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 1.09. Accenture PLC has a 52-week low of $173.65 and a 52-week high of $325.71. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $196.46 and its 200 day moving average price is $235.90. The company has a quick ratio of 1.34, a current ratio of 1.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16.

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, beating the consensus estimate of $2.84 by $0.09. The firm had revenue of $18.04 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $17.80 billion. Accenture had a return on equity of 26.33% and a net margin of 10.61%.The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $2.82 EPS. As a group, equities research 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 will be paid on Friday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 9th will be issued a $1.63 dividend. This represents a $6.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 9th. Accenture’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 53.40%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ACN has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Guggenheim cut their price target on Accenture from $275.00 to $250.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, March 20th. TD Cowen cut their target price on Accenture from $282.00 to $275.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, March 16th. Truist Financial cut their target price on Accenture from $317.00 to $260.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, March 10th. BMO Capital Markets cut their target price on Accenture from $300.00 to $230.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, March 20th. Finally, Robert W. Baird cut their target price on Accenture from $330.00 to $265.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, March 20th. Seventeen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and ten have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Accenture currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $274.50.

Insider Activity at Accenture

In other news, CEO Julie Spellman Sweet sold 6,057 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $241.23, for a total transaction of $1,461,130.11. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 15,255 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,679,963.65. The trade was a 28.42% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Atsushi Egawa sold 4,872 shares of the business’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 sale, 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 SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold a total of 10,943 shares of company stock valued at $2,327,545 over the last three months. Insiders own 0.02% of the company’s stock.

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.