King Luther Capital Management Corp Cuts Stake in Accenture PLC $ACN

King Luther Capital Management Corp trimmed its position in shares of Accenture PLC (NYSE:ACN) by 1.9% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 175,912 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock after selling 3,493 shares during the period. King Luther Capital Management Corp’s holdings in Accenture were worth $47,197,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Triumph Capital Management purchased a new stake in Accenture during the 3rd quarter valued at about $26,000. Board of the Pension Protection Fund purchased a new stake in Accenture during the 4th quarter valued at about $27,000. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Accenture during the 4th quarter valued at about $27,000. Private Wealth Management Group LLC grew its position in Accenture by 96.4% during the 4th 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 during the last quarter. Finally, Steph & Co. grew its position in Accenture by 107.5% during the 4th quarter. Steph & Co. now owns 110 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 57 shares during the last quarter. 75.14% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

ACN has been the topic of several research analyst reports. HSBC lowered their target price on shares of Accenture from $220.00 to $210.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 14th. BMO Capital Markets lowered their target price on shares of Accenture from $300.00 to $230.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, March 20th. UBS Group restated a “buy” rating on shares of Accenture in a research note on Tuesday, March 17th. Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on shares of Accenture from $320.00 to $240.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, March 16th. Finally, TD Cowen lowered their target price on shares of Accenture from $282.00 to $275.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note 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, Accenture presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $274.50.

Insider Buying and Selling at Accenture

In other news, CEO Atsushi Egawa sold 4,872 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 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 position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. 0.02% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Accenture Price Performance

ACN opened at $177.52 on Wednesday. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $186.71 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $227.71. Accenture PLC has a 52-week low of $155.82 and a 52-week high of $321.77. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $118.13 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.54, a P/E/G ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 1.08.

Accenture (NYSE:ACN) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, March 20th. The information technology services provider reported $2.93 earnings per share 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 analysts’ expectations of $17.80 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $2.82 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 7.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts predict that Accenture PLC will post 13.87 EPS for the current year.

Accenture Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 9th were paid a $1.63 dividend. This represents a $6.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.7%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, April 9th. Accenture’s dividend payout ratio is 53.40%.

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.