UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC Has $1.45 Billion Stock Position in Accenture PLC $ACN

UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC raised its stake in shares of Accenture PLC (NYSE:ACN) by 1.2% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 5,393,818 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock after buying an additional 63,760 shares during the period. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC’s holdings in Accenture were worth $1,447,161,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Board of the Pension Protection Fund acquired a new stake in Accenture during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Accenture during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $27,000. McMillan Office Inc. acquired a new stake in Accenture during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Triumph Capital Management acquired a new stake in Accenture during the third quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Finally, Private Wealth Management Group LLC boosted its holdings in Accenture by 96.4% during the fourth quarter. Private Wealth Management Group LLC now owns 108 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 53 shares in the last quarter. 75.14% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Morgan Stanley cut their target price on shares of Accenture from $320.00 to $240.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, March 16th. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their target price on shares of Accenture from $300.00 to $270.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, June 3rd. Stifel Nicolaus cut their target price on shares of Accenture from $315.00 to $270.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, June 3rd. Citigroup cut 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, Truist Financial cut shares of Accenture from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and cut their target price for the company from $260.00 to $210.00 in a research note on Monday, June 1st. Seventeen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and ten have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Accenture presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $259.89.

Accenture Stock Performance

ACN stock opened at $169.95 on Friday. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $181.79 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $221.83. The company has a current ratio of 1.34, a quick ratio of 1.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. The firm has a market cap of $113.09 billion, a PE ratio of 13.92, a P/E/G ratio of 1.59 and a beta of 1.08. Accenture PLC has a 1-year low of $155.82 and a 1-year high of $317.30.

Accenture (NYSE:ACN) last announced its earnings results on Friday, March 20th. The information technology services provider reported $2.93 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.84 by $0.09. The firm had revenue of $18.04 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $17.80 billion. Accenture had a net margin of 10.61% and a return on equity of 26.33%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $2.82 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that Accenture PLC will post 13.87 earnings per share for the current year.

Accenture Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 15th. Investors 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.8%. Accenture’s dividend payout ratio is presently 53.40%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Atsushi Egawa sold 4,872 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 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 position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders own 0.02% of the company’s stock.

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.