J. Safra Sarasin Holding AG Buys 198,144 Shares of Accenture PLC $ACN

J. Safra Sarasin Holding AG increased its stake in shares of Accenture PLC (NYSE:ACN) by 2,078.7% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 207,676 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock after buying an additional 198,144 shares during the quarter. J. Safra Sarasin Holding AG’s holdings in Accenture were worth $55,719,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Brighton Jones LLC boosted its holdings in Accenture by 36.2% during the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 18,438 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $6,486,000 after acquiring an additional 4,905 shares during the last quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of Accenture by 46.9% during the second quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC now owns 2,066 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $618,000 after purchasing an additional 660 shares in the last quarter. United Bank lifted its position in shares of Accenture by 49.8% during the second quarter. United Bank now owns 3,639 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $1,088,000 after purchasing an additional 1,209 shares in the last quarter. Level Four Advisory Services LLC grew its position in Accenture by 15.4% in the 2nd quarter. Level Four Advisory Services LLC now owns 3,234 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $967,000 after purchasing an additional 432 shares in the last quarter. Finally, River Road Asset Management LLC increased its stake in Accenture by 190.3% in the 2nd quarter. River Road Asset Management LLC now owns 53,731 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $16,060,000 after buying an additional 35,221 shares during the last quarter. 75.14% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have commented on the stock. Argus dropped their target price on shares of Accenture from $370.00 to $335.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, December 29th. Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on Accenture from $320.00 to $240.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, March 16th. Mizuho cut their price objective on Accenture from $309.00 to $280.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, March 23rd. Royal Bank Of Canada reduced their price objective on Accenture from $295.00 to $253.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, March 20th. Finally, Guggenheim decreased their target price on Accenture from $275.00 to $250.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, March 20th. Eighteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and ten have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Accenture has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $274.88.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, General Counsel Joel Unruch sold 1,026 shares of Accenture stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $281.70, for a total value of $289,024.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the general counsel owned 27,181 shares in the company, valued at $7,656,887.70. This trade represents a 3.64% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Julie Spellman Sweet sold 6,057 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 15,255 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,679,963.65. This trade represents a 28.42% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold a total of 22,088 shares of company stock worth $5,970,434 in the last ninety days. 0.02% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Accenture Trading Up 2.5%

NYSE:ACN opened at $197.43 on Tuesday. Accenture PLC has a 12 month low of $187.00 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. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $223.66 and its 200 day moving average is $244.30. The stock has a market capitalization of $131.38 billion, a PE ratio of 16.17, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.83 and a beta of 1.28.

Accenture (NYSE:ACN) last released its earnings results on Thursday, March 19th. The information technology services provider reported $2.93 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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%.The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted $2.82 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that Accenture PLC will post 12.73 earnings per share for the current year.

Accenture Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, April 9th will be issued a $1.63 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 9th. This represents a $6.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.3%. Accenture’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.