Machina Capital S.A.S. Makes New Investment in Accenture plc (NYSE:ACN)

Machina Capital S.A.S. acquired a new stake in shares of Accenture plc (NYSE:ACN) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm acquired 3,549 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,245,000. Accenture accounts for about 0.8% of Machina Capital S.A.S.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 21st largest position.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Chilton Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Accenture by 180.0% during the 4th quarter. Chilton Capital Management LLC now owns 70 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 45 shares during the period. DiNuzzo Private Wealth Inc. bought a new position in shares of Accenture during the 4th quarter valued at about $27,000. Halpern Financial Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Accenture in the fourth quarter worth about $31,000. BluePath Capital Management LLC bought a new position in Accenture during the third quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Finally, Valued Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Accenture during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $50,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.14% of the company’s stock.

Accenture Price Performance

NYSE ACN traded up $4.60 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $310.66. 2,291,446 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,491,810. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $341.52 and its 200-day moving average is $342.26. Accenture plc has a 52-week low of $261.68 and a 52-week high of $387.51. The company has a market capitalization of $208.37 billion, a PE ratio of 28.15, a PEG ratio of 2.88 and a beta of 1.21.

Accenture (NYSE:ACN) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 21st. The information technology services provider reported $2.77 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.66 by $0.11. The firm had revenue of $15.80 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $15.85 billion. Accenture had a net margin of 10.89% and a return on equity of 28.30%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down .1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $2.69 EPS. Equities research analysts predict that Accenture plc will post 12.09 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Accenture Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 11th will be paid a $1.29 dividend. This represents a $5.16 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.66%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, April 10th. Accenture’s payout ratio is 46.78%.

Insider Activity at Accenture

In other Accenture news, CEO Jean-Marc Ollagnier sold 6,250 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, April 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $315.91, for a total value of $1,974,437.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 161,581 shares in the company, valued at $51,045,053.71. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other news, COO John F. Walsh sold 8,000 shares of Accenture stock in a transaction on Monday, March 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $332.13, for a total value of $2,657,040.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 17,877 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,937,488.01. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Jean-Marc Ollagnier sold 6,250 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, April 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $315.91, for a total transaction of $1,974,437.50. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 161,581 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $51,045,053.71. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 28,083 shares of company stock worth $8,959,325. Corporate insiders own 0.07% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently commented on ACN shares. Bank of America lifted their price target on shares of Accenture from $379.00 to $419.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 7th. Redburn Atlantic upped their price objective on shares of Accenture from $410.00 to $445.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 19th. UBS Group raised their target price on shares of Accenture from $365.00 to $400.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 25th. Guggenheim started coverage on shares of Accenture in a report on Tuesday, March 19th. They set a “buy” rating and a $425.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Susquehanna reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $360.00 target price (down previously from $400.00) on shares of Accenture in a research report on Thursday, March 21st. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $387.00.

About Accenture

Accenture plc, a professional services company, provides strategy and consulting, industry X, song, and technology and operation services worldwide. The company offers application services, including agile transformation, DevOps, application modernization, enterprise architecture, software and quality engineering, data management; intelligent automation comprising robotic process automation, natural language processing, and virtual agents; and application management services, as well as software engineering services; strategy and consulting services; data and analytics strategy, data discovery and augmentation, data management and beyond, data democratization, and industrialized solutions comprising turnkey analytics and artificial intelligence (AI) solutions; metaverse; and sustainability services.