M&T Bank Corp Trims Holdings in Accenture PLC $ACN

M&T Bank Corp trimmed its stake in Accenture PLC (NYSE:ACN) by 9.7% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 201,735 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock after selling 21,612 shares during the period. M&T Bank Corp’s holdings in Accenture were worth $54,126,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Triumph Capital Management purchased a new stake in shares of Accenture in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Board of the Pension Protection Fund purchased a new stake in shares of Accenture in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Davis Capital Management purchased a new stake in shares of Accenture in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Private Wealth Management Group LLC grew its holdings 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 valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 53 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Steph & Co. grew its holdings 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 valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 57 shares in the last quarter. 75.14% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Accenture

In other news, CEO Atsushi Egawa sold 4,872 shares of Accenture 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,267,746.28. The trade was a 27.57% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 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 on Tuesday, February 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $241.23, for a total transaction of $1,461,130.11. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 15,255 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,679,963.65. The trade was a 28.42% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 10,943 shares of company stock valued at $2,327,545. Corporate insiders own 0.02% of the company’s stock.

Accenture Price Performance

Accenture stock opened at $179.96 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $119.75 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.74, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.71 and a beta of 1.08. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $196.46 and a 200-day simple moving average of $235.78. Accenture PLC has a 12-month low of $173.65 and a 12-month 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.

Accenture (NYSE:ACN) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, March 20th. The information technology services provider reported $2.93 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.84 by $0.09. The business had revenue of $18.04 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $17.80 billion. Accenture had a net margin of 10.61% and a return on equity of 26.33%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $2.82 EPS. Equities analysts expect that Accenture PLC will post 13.87 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Accenture Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 9th will be given a dividend of $1.63 per share. This represents a $6.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 9th. Accenture’s payout ratio is 53.40%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on ACN shares. TD Cowen dropped their price objective on shares of Accenture from $282.00 to $275.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday, March 16th. Piper Sandler set a $282.00 price objective on shares of Accenture in a report on Thursday, March 5th. Berenberg Bank started coverage on shares of Accenture in a report on Thursday, January 22nd. They issued a “buy” rating and a $313.00 price objective for the company. HSBC dropped their price objective on shares of Accenture from $220.00 to $210.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 14th. Finally, Guggenheim dropped their price objective on shares of Accenture from $275.00 to $250.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, March 20th. Seventeen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and ten have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Accenture presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $274.50.

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.