Accenture PLC $ACN Shares Sold by Polen Capital Management LLC

Polen Capital Management LLC lowered its position in shares of Accenture PLC (NYSE:ACN) by 23.5% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,882,707 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock after selling 579,052 shares during the quarter. Accenture comprises 2.2% of Polen Capital Management LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 17th largest position. Polen Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Accenture were worth $505,130,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Triumph Capital Management acquired a new stake in Accenture during the third quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Board of the Pension Protection Fund acquired a new stake in Accenture during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Accenture during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Private Wealth Management Group LLC raised its stake in Accenture by 96.4% during 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. Finally, Steph & Co. raised its stake in Accenture by 107.5% during the fourth quarter. Steph & Co. now owns 110 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $30,000 after buying an additional 57 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.14% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Accenture

In related news, CEO Atsushi Egawa sold 4,872 shares of the 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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 12,802 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,267,746.28. This represents a 27.57% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. 0.02% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have issued reports on ACN. Citigroup cut their price objective on Accenture from $215.00 to $195.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, June 1st. Mizuho dropped their price target on Accenture from $309.00 to $280.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, March 23rd. Guggenheim dropped their price target on Accenture from $250.00 to $225.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on Accenture from $247.00 to $201.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada dropped their price target on Accenture from $295.00 to $253.00 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 given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Accenture presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $259.89.

Accenture Stock Down 1.6%

Shares of Accenture stock opened at $167.69 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.34, a quick ratio of 1.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $182.33 and its 200-day simple moving average is $222.20. The stock has a market capitalization of $111.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.73, a PEG ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 1.08. Accenture PLC has a twelve month low of $155.82 and a twelve month high of $318.62.

Accenture (NYSE:ACN) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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 business had revenue of $18.04 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $17.80 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $2.82 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts forecast that Accenture PLC will post 13.87 earnings per share for the current year.

Accenture Announces Dividend

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

Accenture Profile

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.