3,029 Shares in Accenture PLC $ACN Bought by SmartHarvest Portfolios LLC

SmartHarvest Portfolios LLC purchased a new position in shares of Accenture PLC (NYSE:ACN) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 3,029 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $813,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of ACN. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in Accenture by 1.3% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 66,070,930 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $17,726,831,000 after buying an additional 854,361 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its stake in shares of Accenture by 0.4% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 28,135,065 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $6,938,156,000 after acquiring an additional 118,460 shares during the period. Capital International Investors lifted its holdings in shares of Accenture by 2.0% during the 4th quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 17,471,554 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $4,687,867,000 after acquiring an additional 343,420 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Accenture by 1.5% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 14,656,436 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $3,922,212,000 after purchasing an additional 218,719 shares during the period. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its holdings in Accenture by 5.4% in the 4th quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 10,693,994 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $2,869,199,000 after purchasing an additional 546,198 shares in the last quarter. 75.14% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. BMO Capital Markets lowered their target price on Accenture from $300.00 to $230.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, March 20th. Oppenheimer set a $201.00 price objective on shares of Accenture in a research report on Monday. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on shares of Accenture from $275.00 to $248.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, June 4th. Citigroup decreased their target price on shares of Accenture from $215.00 to $195.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, June 1st. Finally, HSBC lowered 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. Seventeen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and ten have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $259.89.

Insider Transactions at Accenture

In other news, CEO Atsushi Egawa sold 4,872 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $177.14, for a total transaction of $863,026.08. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly 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 Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed 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 corporate insiders.

Accenture Price Performance

ACN opened at $167.69 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $111.59 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.73, a PEG ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 1.08. The company has a 50-day moving average of $182.33 and a 200-day moving average of $222.20. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a quick ratio of 1.34 and a current ratio of 1.34. Accenture PLC has a 1-year low of $155.82 and a 1-year high of $318.62.

Accenture (NYSE:ACN) last issued its earnings results on Friday, March 20th. The information technology services provider reported $2.93 EPS 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 company had revenue of $18.04 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $17.80 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $2.82 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 7.8% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts expect that Accenture PLC will post 13.87 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Accenture Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, April 9th were paid a dividend of $1.63 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, April 9th. This represents a $6.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.9%. Accenture’s dividend payout ratio 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.