Accenture PLC $ACN Stock Holdings Decreased by Sachetta LLC

Sachetta LLC lowered its stake in Accenture PLC (NYSE:ACN) by 86.9% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 484 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock after selling 3,218 shares during the period. Sachetta LLC’s holdings in Accenture were worth $130,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of ACN. Triumph Capital Management bought a new stake in shares of Accenture in the 3rd quarter worth about $26,000. Board of the Pension Protection Fund bought a new stake in shares of Accenture in the 4th quarter worth about $27,000. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Accenture in the 4th quarter worth about $27,000. Davis Capital Management bought a new stake in shares of Accenture during the 3rd quarter valued at about $28,000. Finally, Private Wealth Management Group LLC grew its position in shares of Accenture by 96.4% during the 4th 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 during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 75.14% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ACN has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Berenberg Bank initiated coverage on shares of Accenture in a research report on Thursday, January 22nd. They set a “buy” rating and a $313.00 price objective for the company. HSBC lowered their price objective on shares of Accenture from $220.00 to $210.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 14th. BMO Capital Markets lowered their price objective on shares of Accenture from $300.00 to $230.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, March 20th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of Accenture from $251.00 to $275.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 14th. Finally, TD Cowen lowered their price objective on shares of Accenture from $282.00 to $275.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, March 16th. Seventeen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and ten have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $274.50.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Atsushi Egawa sold 4,872 shares of the company’s 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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 12,802 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,267,746.28. This represents a 27.57% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO Julie Spellman Sweet sold 6,057 shares of the company’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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,679,963.65. This represents a 28.42% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 10,943 shares of company stock valued at $2,327,545. 0.02% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Accenture Price Performance

NYSE ACN opened at $179.96 on Friday. Accenture PLC has a 52 week low of $173.65 and a 52 week high of $325.71. 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 stock has a market cap of $119.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.74, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.71 and a beta of 1.09. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $196.46 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $235.84.

Accenture (NYSE:ACN) last posted its earnings results on Friday, March 20th. The information technology services provider reported $2.93 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 firm had revenue of $18.04 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $17.80 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.82 EPS. Accenture’s quarterly revenue was up 7.8% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts forecast that Accenture PLC will post 13.87 EPS for the current year.

Accenture Announces Dividend

The company 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. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 9th. This represents a $6.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.6%. Accenture’s dividend payout ratio is 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.