Madison Asset Management LLC Sells 40,188 Shares of Accenture PLC $ACN

Madison Asset Management LLC trimmed its holdings in shares of Accenture PLC (NYSE:ACN) by 14.1% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 244,254 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock after selling 40,188 shares during the period. Madison Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Accenture were worth $65,533,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of ACN. Triumph Capital Management bought a new position in Accenture during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $26,000. Board of the Pension Protection Fund purchased a new stake in shares of Accenture during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Accenture in the fourth quarter worth approximately $27,000. Private Wealth Management Group LLC increased its stake in shares of 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 worth $29,000 after buying an additional 53 shares during the period. Finally, Steph & Co. increased its stake in shares of Accenture by 107.5% in the fourth quarter. Steph & Co. now owns 110 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $30,000 after buying an additional 57 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 75.14% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on the stock. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased their price objective on shares of Accenture from $280.00 to $230.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, March 6th. Citigroup cut their target price on Accenture from $266.00 to $215.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on Accenture from $243.00 to $247.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, March 20th. UBS Group reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Accenture in a report on Tuesday, March 17th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on Accenture from $251.00 to $275.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 14th. Seventeen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and ten have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Accenture currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $274.50.

Accenture Price Performance

NYSE ACN opened at $169.90 on Wednesday. Accenture PLC has a one year low of $169.76 and a one year high of $325.71. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $193.20 and a 200 day moving average of $232.98. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a quick ratio of 1.34 and a current ratio of 1.34. The company has a market capitalization of $113.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.91, a PEG ratio of 1.64 and a beta of 1.08.

Accenture (NYSE:ACN) last announced its quarterly earnings results 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 net margin of 10.61% and a return on equity of 26.33%. The firm had revenue of $18.04 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $17.80 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $2.82 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 7.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Accenture PLC will post 13.87 EPS for the current year.

Accenture Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 9th will be given a $1.63 dividend. This represents a $6.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 9th. Accenture’s payout ratio is 53.40%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Accenture news, CEO Atsushi Egawa sold 4,872 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on 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 directly owned 12,802 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,267,746.28. The trade was a 27.57% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Corporate 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.