USS Investment Management Ltd Boosts Stock Holdings in Accenture PLC $ACN

USS Investment Management Ltd lifted its stake in shares of Accenture PLC (NYSE:ACN) by 5.8% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 106,098 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 5,790 shares during the quarter. USS Investment Management Ltd’s holdings in Accenture were worth $28,475,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC increased its position in shares of Accenture by 21.3% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC now owns 80,421 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $21,577,000 after acquiring an additional 14,132 shares during the period. Panagora Asset Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Accenture by 225.0% during the fourth quarter. Panagora Asset Management Inc. now owns 51,763 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $13,888,000 after purchasing an additional 35,835 shares in the last quarter. Perryman Financial Advisory Inc. AD acquired a new position in shares of Accenture during the fourth quarter worth $207,000. Potomac Fund Management Inc. ADV grew its stake in shares of Accenture by 8.8% during the fourth quarter. Potomac Fund Management Inc. ADV now owns 6,620 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $1,776,000 after purchasing an additional 538 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Resources Management Corp CT ADV grew its stake in shares of Accenture by 230.7% during the fourth quarter. Resources Management Corp CT ADV now owns 51,381 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $13,786,000 after purchasing an additional 35,844 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.14% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Accenture

In other news, CEO Atsushi Egawa sold 4,872 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 30th. The shares were 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 in the company, valued at approximately $2,267,746.28. This represents a 27.57% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Company insiders own 0.02% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

ACN has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Citigroup lowered their target price on shares of Accenture from $215.00 to $195.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, June 1st. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on shares of Accenture from $275.00 to $248.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, June 4th. Morgan Stanley set a $177.00 target price on shares of Accenture in a research note on Monday. Guggenheim lowered their target price on shares of Accenture from $250.00 to $225.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered their target price on shares of Accenture from $210.00 to $199.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, June 2nd. Seventeen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and ten have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $257.56.

Accenture Stock Performance

NYSE ACN opened at $169.95 on Monday. 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 PLC has a 1 year low of $155.82 and a 1 year high of $317.30. The company has a market capitalization of $113.09 billion, a PE ratio of 13.92, a P/E/G ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 1.09. The company has a fifty day moving average of $181.79 and a two-hundred day moving average of $221.68.

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 the consensus estimate of $2.84 by $0.09. Accenture had a net margin of 10.61% and a return on equity of 26.33%. The company had revenue of $18.04 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $17.80 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm 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, analysts expect that Accenture PLC will post 13.84 earnings per share for the current year.

Accenture Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 9th were paid a $1.63 dividend. This represents a $6.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.8%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, April 9th. Accenture’s dividend payout ratio is currently 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.