Aberdeen Group plc Purchases 3,415 Shares of Accenture PLC $ACN

Aberdeen Group plc increased its holdings in shares of Accenture PLC (NYSE:ACN) by 0.4% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 919,522 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,415 shares during the period. Aberdeen Group plc owned 0.15% of Accenture worth $246,708,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of ACN. Jaffetilchin Investment Partners LLC raised its stake in Accenture by 4.2% in the 4th 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 during the period. Holt Capital Advisors L.L.C. dba Holt Capital Partners L.P. raised its position in shares of Accenture by 0.9% in 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 valued at $1,089,000 after purchasing an additional 41 shares during the period. SkyView Investment Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Accenture by 1.2% during the 2nd quarter. SkyView Investment Advisors LLC now owns 3,751 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $1,108,000 after buying an additional 43 shares during the last quarter. IVC Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Accenture by 5.0% during the 4th quarter. IVC Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 927 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $249,000 after buying an additional 44 shares during the period. Finally, Investors Research Corp grew its stake in Accenture by 73.8% in the 3rd quarter. Investors Research Corp now owns 106 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 45 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 75.14% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ACN has been the subject of several research reports. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of Accenture from $251.00 to $275.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 14th. Susquehanna increased their target price on Accenture from $270.00 to $277.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, December 19th. Guggenheim dropped their price target on Accenture from $275.00 to $250.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, March 20th. Wolfe Research upped their price objective on Accenture from $300.00 to $330.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, December 11th. Finally, Robert W. Baird lowered their price objective on Accenture from $330.00 to $265.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, March 20th. Eighteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and ten have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $274.88.

Accenture Stock Performance

NYSE:ACN opened at $201.18 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a quick ratio of 1.34 and a current ratio of 1.34. Accenture PLC has a fifty-two week low of $187.00 and a fifty-two week high of $325.71. The company has a market cap of $133.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.48, a PEG ratio of 1.87 and a beta of 1.24. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $218.82 and a 200-day moving average price of $243.39.

Accenture (NYSE:ACN) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, March 20th. The information technology services provider reported $2.93 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.84 by $0.09. The business had revenue of $18.04 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $17.80 billion. Accenture had a return on equity of 26.33% and a net margin of 10.61%.Accenture’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $2.82 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Accenture PLC will post 12.73 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Accenture Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 9th will be issued a dividend of $1.63 per share. This represents a $6.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 9th. Accenture’s dividend payout ratio is 53.40%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Accenture

In other news, COO Catherine Kiernan Hogan sold 660 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, January 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $280.93, for a total transaction of $185,413.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer owned 12,688 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,564,439.84. The trade was a 4.94% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO John F. Walsh sold 3,986 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $276.38, for a total value of $1,101,650.68. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 27,221 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,523,339.98. This represents a 12.77% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold a total of 22,088 shares of company stock worth $5,970,434 in the last three months. Company insiders own 0.02% of the company’s stock.

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.