Accenture PLC $ACN Shares Acquired by Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd.

Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its position in Accenture PLC (NYSE:ACN) by 1.4% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 213,211 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 3,046 shares during the period. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd.’s holdings in Accenture were worth $57,205,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Triumph Capital Management acquired a new stake in shares of Accenture in the 3rd quarter worth about $26,000. Board of the Pension Protection Fund acquired a new position in Accenture during the 4th quarter valued at about $27,000. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Accenture during the 4th quarter valued at about $27,000. Private Wealth Management Group LLC increased its stake in 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 buying an additional 53 shares during the period. Finally, Steph & Co. increased its stake in 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 buying an additional 57 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.14% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Atsushi Egawa sold 4,872 shares of Accenture stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $177.14, for a total value of $863,026.08. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer 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 sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. 0.02% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ACN has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on shares of Accenture from $320.00 to $240.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, March 16th. Royal Bank Of Canada lowered their target price on shares of Accenture from $295.00 to $253.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, March 20th. Piper Sandler set a $282.00 target price on shares of Accenture in a research note on Thursday, March 5th. Guggenheim lowered their target price on shares of Accenture from $275.00 to $250.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, March 20th. Finally, HSBC lowered their target price on shares of Accenture from $220.00 to $210.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 14th. Seventeen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and ten have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $274.50.

Accenture Stock Performance

Shares of ACN opened at $187.32 on Monday. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $185.71 and its 200-day moving average is $226.37. The stock has a market capitalization of $124.65 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.34, a P/E/G ratio of 1.77 and a beta of 1.09. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 1.34 and a quick ratio of 1.34. Accenture PLC has a 12-month low of $155.82 and a 12-month high of $321.77.

Accenture (NYSE:ACN) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, March 20th. The information technology services provider reported $2.93 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.84 by $0.09. The company 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 was up 7.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.82 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that Accenture PLC will post 13.87 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Accenture Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed 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 3.5%. Accenture’s payout ratio is currently 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.