Fourth Sail Capital LP Has $38.26 Million Stock Position in Accenture PLC $ACN

Fourth Sail Capital LP lifted its position in shares of Accenture PLC (NYSE:ACN) by 158.3% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 142,600 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock after buying an additional 87,400 shares during the period. Accenture comprises approximately 6.1% of Fourth Sail Capital LP’s portfolio, making the stock its 2nd biggest holding. Fourth Sail Capital LP’s holdings in Accenture were worth $38,260,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in ACN. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Accenture during the 4th quarter worth approximately $2,146,995,000. Capital International Investors lifted its holdings in shares of Accenture by 41.1% during the 3rd quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 17,128,134 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $4,223,839,000 after acquiring an additional 4,984,930 shares during the period. Voloridge Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Accenture during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $311,694,000. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Accenture by 15.9% during the 4th quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 8,173,338 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $2,192,907,000 after acquiring an additional 1,122,855 shares during the period. Finally, Capital World Investors bought a new stake in shares of Accenture during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $268,578,000. Institutional investors own 75.14% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Accenture news, CEO Atsushi Egawa sold 4,872 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $2,267,746.28. The trade was a 27.57% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. 0.02% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Accenture Trading Up 1.4%

ACN opened at $169.95 on Friday. Accenture PLC has a fifty-two week low of $155.82 and a fifty-two week high of $317.30. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 1.34 and a quick ratio of 1.34. The firm has a market capitalization of $113.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.92, a PEG ratio of 1.61 and a beta of 1.08. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $181.79 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $221.83.

Accenture (NYSE:ACN) last posted its earnings results on Friday, March 20th. The information technology services provider reported $2.93 earnings per share 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 firm had revenue of $18.04 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $17.80 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.82 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts predict that Accenture PLC will post 13.84 earnings per share for the current year.

Accenture Announces Dividend

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ACN has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Oppenheimer set a $201.00 price target on shares of Accenture in a report on Monday, June 8th. Citigroup cut their target price on shares of Accenture from $215.00 to $195.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, June 1st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased their target price on shares of Accenture from $210.00 to $199.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, June 2nd. Royal Bank Of Canada dropped their price target 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, Truist Financial lowered Accenture from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and reduced their price objective for the stock from $260.00 to $210.00 in a research report on Monday, June 1st. Seventeen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and ten have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $259.89.

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.