KCM Investment Advisors LLC Reduces Holdings in Accenture PLC $ACN

KCM Investment Advisors LLC decreased its position in Accenture PLC (NYSE:ACN) by 13.4% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 21,450 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock after selling 3,311 shares during the period. KCM Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in Accenture were worth $5,755,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in ACN. 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 position in shares of Accenture during the 4th quarter worth approximately $27,000. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Accenture during the 4th quarter worth approximately $27,000. McMillan Office Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Accenture during the 4th quarter worth approximately $27,000. Finally, Private Wealth Management Group LLC boosted 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 worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 53 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.14% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related 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 sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 12,802 shares in the company, valued at $2,267,746.28. This trade represents a 27.57% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, 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 corporate insiders.

Accenture Price Performance

Shares of ACN opened at $169.95 on Friday. Accenture PLC has a twelve month low of $155.82 and a twelve month high of $317.30. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $181.79 and its 200-day simple moving average is $221.83. The firm has a market capitalization of $113.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.92, a PEG ratio of 1.61 and a beta of 1.08. 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 announced its quarterly earnings data 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 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 revenue was up 7.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned $2.82 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that Accenture PLC will post 13.84 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Accenture Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 9th were issued 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 yield of 3.8%. Accenture’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 53.40%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Accenture in a research report on Tuesday. Guggenheim lowered their price objective on shares of Accenture from $250.00 to $225.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday. BMO Capital Markets reduced their target price on shares of Accenture from $300.00 to $230.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, March 20th. HSBC reduced their target price on shares of Accenture from $220.00 to $210.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 14th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus reduced their target price on shares of Accenture from $315.00 to $270.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, June 3rd. Seventeen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and ten have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $259.89.

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.