Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd. Trims Holdings in Accenture PLC $ACN

Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd. reduced its holdings in shares of Accenture PLC (NYSE:ACN) by 5.7% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 185,964 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock after selling 11,316 shares during the quarter. Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd.’s holdings in Accenture were worth $49,894,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Triumph Capital Management purchased a new position in shares of Accenture during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Board of the Pension Protection Fund purchased a new position in shares of Accenture during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Accenture during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Private Wealth Management Group LLC raised its position in shares of Accenture by 96.4% during 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 acquiring an additional 53 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Steph & Co. raised its position in shares of Accenture by 107.5% during the 4th quarter. Steph & Co. now owns 110 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $30,000 after acquiring an additional 57 shares in the last quarter. 75.14% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Atsushi Egawa sold 4,872 shares of the stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, the chief executive officer owned 12,802 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,267,746.28. This represents a 27.57% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders own 0.02% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ACN has been the topic of several research reports. Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on Accenture from $320.00 to $240.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, March 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on Accenture from $243.00 to $247.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, March 20th. HSBC dropped their price target on Accenture from $220.00 to $210.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 14th. Piper Sandler set a $282.00 price target on Accenture in a research report on Thursday, March 5th. Finally, Citigroup dropped their price target on Accenture from $266.00 to $215.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 25th. 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, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $274.50.

Accenture Price Performance

Shares of NYSE ACN opened at $177.16 on Tuesday. Accenture PLC has a 1-year low of $155.82 and a 1-year high of $322.86. 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 business’s fifty day moving average price is $189.74 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $230.64. The firm has a market capitalization of $117.89 billion, a PE ratio of 14.51, a P/E/G ratio of 1.60 and a beta of 1.08.

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

Accenture Announces Dividend

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