Smith Chas P & Associates PA Cpas Buys 42,473 Shares of Accenture PLC $ACN

Smith Chas P & Associates PA Cpas increased its stake in Accenture PLC (NYSE:ACN) by 50.6% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 126,435 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock after buying an additional 42,473 shares during the quarter. Accenture comprises approximately 1.8% of Smith Chas P & Associates PA Cpas’ holdings, making the stock its 25th largest holding. Smith Chas P & Associates PA Cpas’ holdings in Accenture were worth $33,923,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Jaffetilchin Investment Partners LLC lifted its position in Accenture by 4.2% in the fourth quarter. Jaffetilchin Investment Partners LLC now owns 878 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $236,000 after buying an additional 35 shares during the last quarter. Clayton Financial Group LLC lifted its position in Accenture by 13.1% in the fourth quarter. Clayton Financial Group LLC now owns 329 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $88,000 after buying an additional 38 shares during the last quarter. Holt Capital Advisors L.L.C. dba Holt Capital Partners L.P. lifted its position in 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 worth $1,089,000 after buying an additional 41 shares during the last quarter. Peak Asset Management LLC lifted its position in Accenture by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. Peak Asset Management LLC now owns 5,447 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $1,461,000 after buying an additional 43 shares during the last quarter. Finally, SkyView Investment Advisors LLC lifted its position in Accenture by 1.2% in the second 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. 75.14% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Accenture Trading Down 0.2%

NYSE ACN opened at $176.69 on Thursday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $186.26 and its 200-day moving average price is $227.25. 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 stock has a market cap of $117.58 billion, a PE ratio of 14.47, a PEG ratio of 1.68 and a beta of 1.08. Accenture PLC has a 12 month low of $155.82 and a 12 month high of $321.77.

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, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.84 by $0.09. The firm had revenue of $18.04 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $17.80 billion. Accenture had a net margin of 10.61% and a return on equity of 26.33%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $2.82 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that Accenture PLC will post 13.87 earnings per share for the current year.

Accenture Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, April 9th were issued a $1.63 dividend. This represents a $6.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.7%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, April 9th. Accenture’s payout ratio is presently 53.40%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ACN has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Truist Financial lowered their price target on Accenture from $317.00 to $260.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, March 10th. BMO Capital Markets lowered their price target on Accenture from $300.00 to $230.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, March 20th. TD Cowen decreased their target price on Accenture from $282.00 to $275.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, March 16th. Mizuho cut their price target on shares of Accenture from $309.00 to $280.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, March 23rd. Finally, Piper Sandler set a $282.00 price target on shares of Accenture in a report on Thursday, March 5th. Seventeen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and ten have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Accenture presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $274.50.

Insider Buying and Selling at Accenture

In related news, CEO Atsushi Egawa sold 4,872 shares of Accenture stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 30th. The stock was 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 directly owned 12,802 shares in the company, valued at $2,267,746.28. The trade was a 27.57% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, 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 insiders.

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.