Banque Cantonale Vaudoise Raises Stake in Accenture PLC $ACN

Banque Cantonale Vaudoise grew its stake in shares of Accenture PLC (NYSE:ACN) by 58.0% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 28,267 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock after buying an additional 10,380 shares during the period. Banque Cantonale Vaudoise’s holdings in Accenture were worth $7,583,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of ACN. Capital International Investors grew its stake 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 in the last quarter. Voloridge Investment Management LLC bought a new position in Accenture in the 3rd quarter valued at $311,694,000. Capital World Investors purchased a new position in shares of Accenture during the 3rd quarter valued at $268,578,000. First Trust Advisors LP grew its position in shares of Accenture by 85.9% during the 3rd 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 purchasing an additional 943,371 shares in the last quarter. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Accenture by 268.3% in the third quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 1,252,334 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $308,826,000 after purchasing an additional 912,348 shares during the period. 75.14% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on ACN shares. TD Cowen dropped their price objective on Accenture from $282.00 to $275.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, March 16th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered 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. Guggenheim cut their price objective on Accenture from $275.00 to $250.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, March 20th. Berenberg Bank started coverage on shares of Accenture in a research report on Thursday, January 22nd. They issued a “buy” rating and a $313.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on shares of Accenture from $320.00 to $240.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, March 16th. Seventeen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and ten have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $274.50.

Insider Activity at Accenture

In other news, CEO Atsushi Egawa sold 4,872 shares of the business’s 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 sale, the chief executive officer owned 12,802 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,267,746.28. The trade was a 27.57% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Corporate insiders own 0.02% of the company’s stock.

Accenture Stock Performance

NYSE:ACN opened at $176.47 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $117.43 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.45, a PEG ratio of 1.68 and a beta of 1.08. The business has a 50 day moving average of $188.93 and a 200 day moving average of $230.14. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 1.34 and a quick ratio of 1.34. Accenture PLC has a 1-year low of $155.82 and a 1-year high of $322.86.

Accenture (NYSE:ACN) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, March 20th. The information technology services provider reported $2.93 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 firm had revenue of $18.04 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $17.80 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $2.82 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 7.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts predict 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 was paid on Friday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 9th were paid a dividend of $1.63 per share. This represents a $6.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, April 9th. Accenture’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 53.40%.

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.