Connors Investor Services Inc. Buys Shares of 45,267 Accenture PLC $ACN

Connors Investor Services Inc. purchased a new stake in Accenture PLC (NYSE:ACN) during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund purchased 45,267 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $12,145,000.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of ACN. Board of the Pension Protection Fund acquired a new stake in shares of Accenture in the fourth quarter worth $27,000. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Accenture in the fourth quarter worth $27,000. Triumph Capital Management acquired a new stake in shares of Accenture in the third quarter worth $26,000. Private Wealth Management Group LLC grew its stake in shares of Accenture by 96.4% in the fourth quarter. Private Wealth Management Group LLC now owns 108 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 53 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Steph & Co. grew its stake in shares of Accenture by 107.5% in the fourth quarter. Steph & Co. now owns 110 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $30,000 after acquiring an additional 57 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 75.14% of the company’s stock.

Accenture Stock Up 0.8%

Shares of NYSE:ACN opened at $179.36 on Friday. Accenture PLC has a 52 week low of $155.82 and a 52 week high of $321.77. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a quick ratio of 1.34 and a current ratio of 1.34. The company’s fifty day moving average is $187.42 and its 200-day moving average is $228.79. The company has a market capitalization of $119.35 billion, a PE ratio of 14.69, a P/E/G ratio of 1.70 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 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.84 by $0.09. Accenture had a net margin of 10.61% and a return on equity of 26.33%. The company had revenue of $18.04 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $17.80 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $2.82 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts predict that Accenture PLC will post 13.87 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Accenture Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, April 9th were issued a $1.63 dividend. This represents a $6.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, April 9th. Accenture’s payout ratio is currently 53.40%.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Atsushi Egawa sold 4,872 shares of Accenture stock in a transaction dated 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 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 ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available 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.

Analyst Ratings Changes

ACN has been the topic of several research analyst reports. TD Cowen lowered their price objective on shares of Accenture from $282.00 to $275.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, March 16th. Piper Sandler set a $282.00 price target on shares of Accenture in a research note on Thursday, March 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on Accenture from $243.00 to $247.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, March 20th. Guggenheim decreased their price objective on Accenture from $275.00 to $250.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, March 20th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased their price objective on Accenture from $280.00 to $230.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, March 6th. Seventeen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and ten have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $274.50.

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.