Rathbones Group PLC Lowers Holdings in Accenture PLC $ACN

Rathbones Group PLC reduced its position in shares of Accenture PLC (NYSE:ACN) by 18.0% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 906,565 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock after selling 199,195 shares during the quarter. Accenture accounts for 0.8% of Rathbones Group PLC’s holdings, making the stock its 29th biggest holding. Rathbones Group PLC’s holdings in Accenture were worth $243,231,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. State Street Corp raised its holdings in Accenture by 0.4% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 28,135,065 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $6,938,156,000 after acquiring an additional 118,460 shares during the last quarter. Capital International Investors increased its holdings in shares of Accenture by 41.1% in the 3rd quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 17,128,134 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $4,223,839,000 after purchasing an additional 4,984,930 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its stake in shares of Accenture by 12.8% in the third quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 10,147,796 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $2,502,446,000 after purchasing an additional 1,148,970 shares during the last quarter. Sanders Capital LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Accenture by 9.0% during the third quarter. Sanders Capital LLC now owns 9,615,366 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $2,371,149,000 after purchasing an additional 790,580 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. increased its holdings in Accenture by 4.4% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 7,050,483 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $1,738,649,000 after buying an additional 295,762 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.14% of the company’s stock.

Accenture Trading Down 0.1%

Shares of ACN stock opened at $201.18 on Monday. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $217.22 and its 200-day moving average price is $243.20. Accenture PLC has a 12-month low of $187.00 and a 12-month high of $325.71. The stock has a market capitalization of $133.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.48, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.91 and a beta of 1.24. The company has a current ratio of 1.34, a quick ratio of 1.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16.

Accenture (NYSE:ACN) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, March 20th. The information technology services provider reported $2.93 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.84 by $0.09. The business had revenue of $18.04 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $17.80 billion. Accenture had a return on equity of 26.33% and a net margin of 10.61%.The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $2.82 EPS. Equities research analysts predict that Accenture PLC will post 12.73 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Accenture Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, April 9th will be issued a $1.63 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 9th. This represents a $6.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.2%. Accenture’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 53.40%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Accenture news, CEO Julie Spellman Sweet sold 6,057 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $241.23, for a total transaction of $1,461,130.11. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 15,255 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,679,963.65. The trade was a 28.42% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, insider Manish Sharma sold 2,731 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $288.13, for a total value of $786,883.03. Following the sale, the insider owned 7,057 shares in the company, valued at $2,033,333.41. The trade was a 27.90% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold a total of 22,088 shares of company stock valued at $5,970,434 in the last quarter. 0.02% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently weighed in on ACN. Susquehanna boosted their price objective on shares of Accenture from $270.00 to $277.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, December 19th. Robert W. Baird dropped their price objective on shares of Accenture from $330.00 to $265.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, March 20th. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective 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. Argus lowered their target price on shares of Accenture from $370.00 to $335.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upped their price objective on Accenture from $270.00 to $280.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 8th. Eighteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and ten have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Accenture presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $274.88.

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.