Ruane Cunniff & Goldfarb L.P. Makes New Investment in Accenture PLC $ACN

Ruane Cunniff & Goldfarb L.P. acquired a new position in shares of Accenture PLC (NYSE:ACN) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 943,420 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $253,120,000. Accenture comprises about 4.0% of Ruane Cunniff & Goldfarb L.P.’s portfolio, making the stock its 11th biggest position. Ruane Cunniff & Goldfarb L.P. owned about 0.15% of Accenture as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of ACN. Board of the Pension Protection Fund bought a new position in Accenture during the fourth quarter valued at $27,000. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in Accenture during the fourth quarter valued at $27,000. McMillan Office Inc. bought a new position in Accenture during the fourth quarter valued at $27,000. Triumph Capital Management purchased a new stake in Accenture in the 3rd quarter worth about $26,000. Finally, Private Wealth Management Group LLC raised its position in Accenture by 96.4% in the 4th quarter. Private Wealth Management Group LLC now owns 108 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 53 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 75.14% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms recently weighed in on ACN. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on shares of Accenture from $320.00 to $240.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, March 16th. BMO Capital Markets reduced their price objective on shares of Accenture from $300.00 to $230.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, March 20th. TD Cowen reduced their price objective on shares of Accenture from $282.00 to $258.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, June 8th. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price objective on shares of Accenture from $315.00 to $270.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, June 3rd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on shares of Accenture from $247.00 to $201.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, June 8th. Seventeen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and ten have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $259.89.

Insider Activity at Accenture

In other news, CEO Atsushi Egawa sold 4,872 shares of the firm’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 transaction of $863,026.08. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 12,802 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,267,746.28. This trade represents a 27.57% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed 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.

Accenture Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:ACN opened at $169.95 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $113.09 billion, a PE ratio of 13.92, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.59 and a beta of 1.08. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $181.79 and its 200-day simple moving average is $221.83. Accenture PLC has a one year low of $155.82 and a one year high of $317.30. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a quick ratio of 1.34 and a current ratio of 1.34.

Accenture (NYSE:ACN) last issued its earnings results on Friday, March 20th. The information technology services provider reported $2.93 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.84 by $0.09. The business had revenue of $18.04 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $17.80 billion. Accenture had a net margin of 10.61% and a return on equity of 26.33%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 7.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $2.82 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts predict that Accenture PLC will post 13.87 EPS for the current year.

Accenture Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 9th were given a dividend of $1.63 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, April 9th. This represents a $6.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.8%. Accenture’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.