Opal Capital LLC Purchases Shares of 27,578 Accenture PLC $ACN

Opal Capital LLC purchased a new stake in Accenture PLC (NYSE:ACN) during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund purchased 27,578 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $7,382,000. Accenture makes up approximately 1.9% of Opal Capital LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 16th largest holding.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of ACN. Brighton Jones LLC raised its stake in Accenture by 36.2% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 18,438 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $6,486,000 after buying an additional 4,905 shares in the last quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC raised its stake in Accenture by 46.9% in the second quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC now owns 2,066 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $618,000 after buying an additional 660 shares in the last quarter. United Bank raised its stake in Accenture by 49.8% in the second quarter. United Bank now owns 3,639 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $1,088,000 after buying an additional 1,209 shares in the last quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia raised its stake in Accenture by 23.0% in the second quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia now owns 828 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $247,000 after buying an additional 155 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Main Street Financial Solutions LLC raised its stake in Accenture by 4.2% in the second quarter. Main Street Financial Solutions LLC now owns 1,767 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $528,000 after buying an additional 72 shares in the last quarter. 75.14% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Key Stories Impacting Accenture

Here are the key news stories impacting Accenture this week:

• Negative Sentiment: Susquehanna cut its price target on Accenture to $186 from $222 and kept a neutral rating, adding to the cautious tone around the stock ahead of earnings. Susquehanna adjusts price target on Accenture
• Negative Sentiment: Jefferies also lowered its target on Accenture to $185 from $210 and maintained a hold rating, reinforcing concerns that near-term upside may be limited. Jefferies adjusts price target on Accenture
• Neutral Sentiment: Investors are waiting for Accenture’s fiscal third-quarter results on June 18, with expectations for revenue and EPS growth that could determine whether the recent weakness continues or reverses. Accenture set to report Q3 earnings
• Neutral Sentiment: Accenture is also in the spotlight after Unilever said it is scaling AI-enabled digital twins across its manufacturing network with Accenture, highlighting ongoing enterprise AI work, though the announcement is not a major immediate catalyst. Unilever scales digital twins across global manufacturing network with Accenture
• Neutral Sentiment: Accenture received an award recognizing its AI innovation across its workforce, which supports the company’s AI narrative but is unlikely to move the stock on its own. Accenture award underscores AI role

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently commented on the company. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut their target price on Accenture from $210.00 to $199.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, June 2nd. Wolfe Research reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $200.00 target price on shares of Accenture in a research report on Tuesday. Stifel Nicolaus cut their target price on Accenture from $315.00 to $270.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, June 3rd. Citigroup cut their target price on Accenture from $215.00 to $195.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, June 1st. Finally, Morgan Stanley reiterated an “equal weight” rating and set a $177.00 target price (down from $240.00) on shares of Accenture in a research report on Monday. Sixteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eleven have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Accenture currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $245.85.

Accenture Price Performance

Shares of ACN opened at $165.84 on Wednesday. Accenture PLC has a twelve month low of $155.82 and a twelve month high of $315.95. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $180.37 and its two-hundred day moving average is $220.51. The firm has a market capitalization of $110.36 billion, a PE ratio of 13.58, a P/E/G ratio of 1.57 and a beta of 1.08. The company has a current ratio of 1.34, a quick ratio of 1.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16.

Accenture (NYSE:ACN) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, March 20th. The information technology services provider reported $2.93 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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. Research analysts anticipate that Accenture PLC will post 13.83 earnings per share for the current year.

Accenture Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 9th were paid a dividend of $1.63 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, April 9th. This represents a $6.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.9%. Accenture’s payout ratio is 53.40%.

Insider Activity at Accenture

In other news, CEO Atsushi Egawa sold 4,872 shares of the business’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 sale, 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 legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. 0.02% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Accenture 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.