JLB & Associates Inc. Takes Position in Accenture PLC $ACN

JLB & Associates Inc. bought a new position in Accenture PLC (NYSE:ACN) in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm bought 52,350 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $14,046,000. Accenture accounts for approximately 1.9% of JLB & Associates Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 21st largest position.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of ACN. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Accenture by 1.3% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 66,070,930 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $17,726,831,000 after buying an additional 854,361 shares during the period. State Street Corp increased its position in shares of Accenture by 0.4% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 28,135,065 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $6,938,156,000 after acquiring an additional 118,460 shares during the period. Capital International Investors raised its stake in Accenture by 41.1% in the 3rd quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 17,128,134 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $4,223,839,000 after acquiring an additional 4,984,930 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its position in Accenture by 5.4% during the 4th quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 10,693,994 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $2,869,199,000 after acquiring an additional 546,198 shares during the period. Finally, Sanders Capital LLC grew its stake in Accenture by 9.0% during the 3rd quarter. Sanders Capital LLC now owns 9,615,366 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $2,371,149,000 after purchasing an additional 790,580 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.14% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on the company. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on Accenture from $320.00 to $240.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, March 16th. Robert W. Baird cut their price target 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 reduced their price target on shares of Accenture from $295.00 to $253.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, March 20th. Truist Financial dropped their price objective on shares of Accenture from $317.00 to $260.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, March 10th. Finally, Berenberg Bank started coverage on shares of Accenture in a report on Thursday, January 22nd. They set a “buy” rating and a $313.00 target price for the company. Seventeen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and ten have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Accenture has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $274.50.

Accenture Trading Up 3.3%

ACN stock opened at $180.39 on Friday. 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 PLC has a 52-week low of $173.52 and a 52-week high of $325.71. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $194.89 and its 200-day simple moving average is $234.53. The firm has a market cap of $120.04 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.77, a PEG ratio of 1.66 and a beta of 1.08.

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 company had revenue of $18.04 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $17.80 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $2.82 earnings per share. Accenture’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Accenture PLC will post 13.87 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Accenture Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, April 9th will be paid a $1.63 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 9th. This represents a $6.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.6%. Accenture’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 53.40%.

Insider Activity

In other Accenture 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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 15,255 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,679,963.65. The trade was a 28.42% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Atsushi Egawa sold 4,872 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $177.14, for a total value of $863,026.08. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 12,802 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,267,746.28. The trade was 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 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.