Accenture PLC $ACN Shares Bought by Teacher Retirement System of Texas

Teacher Retirement System of Texas raised its stake in Accenture PLC (NYSE:ACN) by 27.7% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 282,340 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 61,314 shares during the period. Teacher Retirement System of Texas’ holdings in Accenture were worth $75,752,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Jaffetilchin Investment Partners LLC boosted its stake in Accenture by 4.2% in the fourth quarter. Jaffetilchin Investment Partners LLC now owns 878 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $236,000 after acquiring an additional 35 shares in the last quarter. Clayton Financial Group LLC raised its holdings in Accenture by 13.1% during the fourth quarter. Clayton Financial Group LLC now owns 329 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $88,000 after purchasing an additional 38 shares in the last quarter. Holt Capital Advisors L.L.C. dba Holt Capital Partners L.P. raised its holdings in Accenture by 0.9% during the third quarter. Holt Capital Advisors L.L.C. dba Holt Capital Partners L.P. now owns 4,416 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $1,089,000 after purchasing an additional 41 shares in the last quarter. SkyView Investment Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Accenture by 1.2% during the second quarter. SkyView Investment Advisors LLC now owns 3,751 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $1,108,000 after purchasing an additional 43 shares in the last quarter. Finally, IVC Wealth Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Accenture by 5.0% during the fourth quarter. IVC Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 927 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $249,000 after purchasing an additional 44 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.14% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Accenture

In related news, CEO John F. Walsh sold 3,986 shares of Accenture stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $276.38, for a total transaction of $1,101,650.68. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 27,221 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,523,339.98. The trade was a 12.77% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, General Counsel Joel Unruch sold 1,026 shares of Accenture stock in a transaction on Friday, January 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $281.70, for a total transaction of $289,024.20. Following the transaction, the general counsel owned 27,181 shares in the company, valued at $7,656,887.70. The trade was a 3.64% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last three months, insiders have sold 15,331 shares of company stock worth $4,048,871. Corporate insiders own 0.02% of the company’s stock.

Accenture Stock Down 2.2%

Shares of ACN opened at $190.09 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $126.49 billion, a PE ratio of 15.57, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.84 and a beta of 1.24. The company’s fifty day moving average is $201.61 and its two-hundred day moving average is $238.77. Accenture PLC has a fifty-two week low of $177.50 and a fifty-two week high of $325.71. The company has a quick ratio of 1.34, a current ratio of 1.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16.

Accenture (NYSE:ACN) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, March 20th. The information technology services provider reported $2.93 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.84 by $0.09. The company 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%. Accenture’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $2.82 EPS. Analysts forecast that Accenture PLC will post 13.87 earnings per share for the current year.

Accenture Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 9th will be issued a $1.63 dividend. This represents a $6.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.4%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 9th. Accenture’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 53.40%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts recently issued reports on ACN shares. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut their price target on shares of Accenture from $280.00 to $230.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Friday, March 6th. Argus dropped their target price on shares of Accenture from $370.00 to $335.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday, December 29th. Robert W. Baird dropped their target price on shares of Accenture from $330.00 to $265.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, March 20th. Berenberg Bank initiated coverage on shares of Accenture in a report on Thursday, January 22nd. They issued a “buy” rating and a $313.00 target price for the company. Finally, Truist Financial dropped their target price on shares of Accenture from $317.00 to $260.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, March 10th. Seventeen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and ten have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Accenture currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $274.50.

Accenture Company 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.