State of Wisconsin Investment Board Sells 6,779 Shares of Accenture PLC $ACN

State of Wisconsin Investment Board decreased its holdings in shares of Accenture PLC (NYSE:ACN) by 2.0% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 329,399 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock after selling 6,779 shares during the period. State of Wisconsin Investment Board owned 0.05% of Accenture worth $88,378,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Triumph Capital Management bought a new position in shares of Accenture during the third quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Board of the Pension Protection Fund bought a new position in shares of Accenture during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Accenture during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $27,000. McMillan Office Inc. bought a new position in shares of Accenture during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Finally, University of Texas Texas AM Investment Management Co. bought a new position in shares of Accenture during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Institutional investors own 75.14% of the company’s stock.

Accenture Price Performance

Shares of ACN opened at $165.84 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $110.36 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.58, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.57 and a beta of 1.08. The company has a quick ratio of 1.34, a current ratio of 1.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $180.37 and a 200 day moving average of $220.51. Accenture PLC has a twelve month low of $155.82 and a twelve month high of $315.95.

Accenture (NYSE:ACN) last posted 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. Accenture had a net margin of 10.61% and a return on equity of 26.33%. The business had revenue of $18.04 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $17.80 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $2.82 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 7.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Accenture PLC will post 13.83 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Accenture Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 9th were given a $1.63 dividend. This represents a $6.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, April 9th. Accenture’s payout ratio is 53.40%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Accenture news, CEO Atsushi Egawa sold 4,872 shares of Accenture stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $177.14, for a total value of $863,026.08. Following the completion of the sale, 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 position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Company insiders own 0.02% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

ACN has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Oppenheimer set a $201.00 target price on shares of Accenture in a research note on Monday, June 8th. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price target on shares of Accenture from $315.00 to $270.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, June 3rd. Wolfe Research reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $200.00 price target on shares of Accenture in a research report on Tuesday. TD Cowen reduced their price target on shares of Accenture from $282.00 to $258.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, June 8th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reduced their price target on shares of Accenture from $210.00 to $199.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, June 2nd. Sixteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eleven have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $242.41.

Accenture News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting Accenture this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Accenture agreed to acquire Industries eXcellence Group from Engineering Group, a move that should strengthen its software and automation capabilities tied to Siemens Digital Industries. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Accenture also agreed to buy Alfahealth, expanding its digital health capabilities in Italy and adding another growth avenue in healthcare transformation. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Unilever is expanding its partnership with Accenture to scale AI-enabled digital twins across its global manufacturing network, reinforcing Accenture’s AI and enterprise transformation positioning. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: Accenture is set to report fiscal third-quarter earnings on Thursday, and investors are waiting to see whether revenue and EPS growth can validate the recent weakness in the stock. Article Title
• Negative Sentiment: Wall Street sentiment has cooled: Susquehanna cut its price target to $186 from $222 and Jefferies lowered its target to $185 from $210, reflecting more cautious expectations for the stock. Article Title
• Negative Sentiment: Additional commentary suggests AI spending is crowding out IT services budgets, which could keep pressure on Accenture’s discretionary consulting demand. Article Title

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.