Accenture PLC $ACN Stock Holdings Decreased by Metis Global Partners LLC

Metis Global Partners LLC cut its holdings in Accenture PLC (NYSE:ACN) by 15.5% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 30,449 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock after selling 5,577 shares during the period. Metis Global Partners LLC’s holdings in Accenture were worth $8,169,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Board of the Pension Protection Fund acquired a new position in shares of Accenture in the 4th quarter valued at about $27,000. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Accenture in the 4th quarter valued at about $27,000. Triumph Capital Management acquired a new position in shares of Accenture in the 3rd quarter valued at about $26,000. Private Wealth Management Group LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Accenture by 96.4% in the 4th quarter. Private Wealth Management Group LLC now owns 108 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 53 shares during the period. Finally, Steph & Co. boosted its holdings in shares of Accenture by 107.5% in the 4th quarter. Steph & Co. now owns 110 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $30,000 after buying an additional 57 shares during the period. 75.14% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at Accenture

In other Accenture news, CEO Atsushi Egawa sold 4,872 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $177.14, for a total transaction of $863,026.08. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 12,802 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,267,746.28. The trade was a 27.57% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 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

Several research analysts have recently commented on the stock. HSBC decreased their price target on shares of Accenture from $220.00 to $210.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 14th. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their price target on shares of Accenture from $300.00 to $270.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, June 3rd. BMO Capital Markets decreased their price target on shares of Accenture from $300.00 to $230.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, March 20th. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their target price on shares of Accenture from $315.00 to $270.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, June 3rd. Finally, Mizuho reduced their target price 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. Seventeen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and ten have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $260.81.

Accenture Trading Down 1.6%

Accenture stock opened at $170.76 on Thursday. 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 price of $182.94 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $222.79. The firm has a market capitalization of $113.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.99, a PEG ratio of 1.64 and a beta of 1.08. Accenture PLC has a 52-week low of $155.82 and a 52-week high of $321.77.

Accenture (NYSE:ACN) last posted its earnings results on Friday, March 20th. The information technology services provider reported $2.93 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.84 by $0.09. The firm had revenue of $18.04 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $17.80 billion. Accenture had a net margin of 10.61% and a return on equity of 26.33%. Accenture’s revenue was up 7.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $2.82 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that Accenture PLC will post 13.87 earnings per share for the current year.

Accenture Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 9th were given a dividend of $1.63 per share. This represents a $6.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.8%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, April 9th. Accenture’s payout ratio is 53.40%.

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.