Quent Long Short Global Small Cap Fund LP Buys New Position in Accenture PLC $ACN

Quent Long Short Global Small Cap Fund LP bought a new stake in Accenture PLC (NYSE:ACN) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor bought 3,422 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $918,000.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in ACN. Capital International Investors boosted its position in Accenture by 41.1% during the third quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 17,128,134 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $4,223,839,000 after acquiring an additional 4,984,930 shares during the last quarter. Voloridge Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in Accenture during the third quarter valued at $311,694,000. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its position in Accenture by 12.8% during the third quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 10,147,796 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $2,502,446,000 after acquiring an additional 1,148,970 shares during the last quarter. Capital World Investors bought a new stake in Accenture during the third quarter valued at $268,578,000. Finally, First Trust Advisors LP boosted its position in Accenture by 85.9% during the third quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 2,041,945 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $503,544,000 after acquiring an additional 943,371 shares during the last quarter. 75.14% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Accenture news, CEO John F. Walsh sold 3,986 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $276.38, for a total transaction of $1,101,650.68. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 27,221 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,523,339.98. This trade represents a 12.77% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, COO Catherine Kiernan Hogan sold 660 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, January 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $280.93, for a total value of $185,413.80. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer owned 12,688 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,564,439.84. This trade represents a 4.94% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold a total of 14,305 shares of company stock valued at $3,759,847 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.02% of the company’s stock.

Accenture Price Performance

Shares of NYSE ACN opened at $178.49 on Friday. Accenture PLC has a fifty-two week low of $174.87 and a fifty-two week high of $325.71. The stock has a market cap of $118.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.62, a PEG ratio of 1.80 and a beta of 1.24. 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 firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $200.73 and its 200 day simple moving average is $238.35.

Accenture (NYSE:ACN) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, March 20th. The information technology services provider reported $2.93 earnings per share 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 business had revenue of $18.04 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $17.80 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $2.82 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Accenture PLC will post 13.87 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Accenture Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 9th will be paid a dividend of $1.63 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 9th. This represents a $6.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.7%. Accenture’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 53.40%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have commented on ACN shares. Royal Bank Of Canada cut their price target on shares of Accenture from $295.00 to $253.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, March 20th. Guggenheim cut their price target on Accenture from $275.00 to $250.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, March 20th. Berenberg Bank assumed coverage on Accenture in a report on Thursday, January 22nd. They set a “buy” rating and a $313.00 price target on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on Accenture from $251.00 to $275.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 14th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut their price target 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 issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on 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.