Bristol Gate Capital Partners Inc. Has $81.09 Million Holdings in Accenture PLC $ACN

Bristol Gate Capital Partners Inc. lifted its position in Accenture PLC (NYSE:ACN) by 26.1% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 302,228 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 62,619 shares during the quarter. Accenture accounts for approximately 4.7% of Bristol Gate Capital Partners Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 9th largest holding. Bristol Gate Capital Partners Inc.’s holdings in Accenture were worth $81,088,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Board of the Pension Protection Fund bought a new stake in shares of Accenture in the fourth quarter valued at about $27,000. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Accenture in the fourth quarter valued at about $27,000. Triumph Capital Management bought a new stake in shares of Accenture in the third quarter valued at about $26,000. Private Wealth Management Group LLC raised its holdings in shares of Accenture by 96.4% in 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 acquiring an additional 53 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Steph & Co. raised its holdings in shares of Accenture by 107.5% in the fourth quarter. Steph & Co. now owns 110 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $30,000 after acquiring an additional 57 shares in the last quarter. 75.14% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Atsushi Egawa sold 4,872 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $177.14, for a total transaction of $863,026.08. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 12,802 shares in the company, valued at $2,267,746.28. This represents a 27.57% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, 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 currently owned by company insiders.

Accenture Stock Performance

ACN opened at $179.36 on Friday. Accenture PLC has a 52-week low of $155.82 and a 52-week high of $321.77. The company has a quick ratio of 1.34, a current ratio of 1.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. The company has a market cap of $119.35 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.69, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.69 and a beta of 1.08. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $187.42 and its 200-day moving average price is $228.79.

Accenture (NYSE:ACN) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, March 20th. The information technology services provider reported $2.93 earnings per share (EPS) 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 firm had revenue of $18.04 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $17.80 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $2.82 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Accenture PLC will post 13.87 EPS 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 issued a dividend of $1.63 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, April 9th. This represents a $6.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.6%. Accenture’s dividend payout ratio is 53.40%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ACN has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Guggenheim reduced their target price on shares of Accenture from $275.00 to $250.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, March 20th. TD Cowen reduced their target price on shares of Accenture from $282.00 to $275.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday, March 16th. BMO Capital Markets reduced their target price on shares of Accenture from $300.00 to $230.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, March 20th. Piper Sandler set a $282.00 target price on shares of Accenture in a report on Thursday, March 5th. Finally, HSBC reduced their target price on shares of Accenture from $220.00 to $210.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 14th. Seventeen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and ten have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Accenture currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $274.50.

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.