Accenture PLC $ACN Shares Acquired by Epoch Investment Partners Inc.

Epoch Investment Partners Inc. boosted its holdings in Accenture PLC (NYSE:ACN) by 96.2% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 692,219 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock after buying an additional 339,389 shares during the period. Accenture makes up about 1.1% of Epoch Investment Partners Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 15th largest position. Epoch Investment Partners Inc. owned 0.11% of Accenture worth $185,722,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of ACN. Board of the Pension Protection Fund purchased a new stake in shares of Accenture during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Accenture during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $27,000. McMillan Office Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Accenture during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Triumph Capital Management purchased a new stake in shares of Accenture during the third quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Finally, Private Wealth Management Group LLC raised its stake in shares of Accenture by 96.4% during 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 during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.14% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Atsushi Egawa sold 4,872 shares of the business’s 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 transaction, the chief executive officer 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 ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Company insiders own 0.02% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on ACN shares. Citigroup dropped their price objective on shares of Accenture from $215.00 to $195.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, June 1st. Mizuho dropped their price target on shares of Accenture from $309.00 to $280.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, March 23rd. UBS Group restated a “buy” rating on shares of Accenture in a research note on Tuesday, March 17th. Guggenheim dropped their price target on shares of Accenture from $250.00 to $225.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada dropped their price target on shares of Accenture from $295.00 to $253.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, March 20th. Seventeen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and ten have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Accenture has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $259.89.

Accenture Stock Performance

Accenture stock opened at $169.95 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $113.09 billion, a PE ratio of 13.92, a P/E/G ratio of 1.61 and a beta of 1.08. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $181.79 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $221.83. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 1.34 and a quick ratio of 1.34. Accenture PLC has a 12 month low of $155.82 and a 12 month high of $317.30.

Accenture (NYSE:ACN) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 firm had revenue of $18.04 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $17.80 billion. Accenture had a net margin of 10.61% and a return on equity of 26.33%. The firm’s revenue was up 7.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.82 earnings per share. Research analysts expect that Accenture PLC will post 13.84 earnings per share for the current year.

Accenture Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 15th. Stockholders 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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.8%. Accenture’s payout ratio is 53.40%.

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.