Fiera Capital Corp Sells 7,509 Shares of Accenture PLC $ACN

Fiera Capital Corp lessened its stake in Accenture PLC (NYSE:ACN) by 32.7% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 15,469 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock after selling 7,509 shares during the period. Fiera Capital Corp’s holdings in Accenture were worth $4,150,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in Accenture by 1.3% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 66,070,930 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $17,726,831,000 after purchasing an additional 854,361 shares during the period. State Street Corp increased its holdings in Accenture by 0.4% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 28,135,065 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $6,938,156,000 after purchasing an additional 118,460 shares during the period. Capital International Investors grew its holdings in shares of Accenture by 2.0% during the 4th quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 17,471,554 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $4,687,867,000 after acquiring an additional 343,420 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Accenture by 1.5% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 14,656,436 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $3,922,212,000 after acquiring an additional 218,719 shares during the period. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its holdings in shares of Accenture by 5.4% during the 4th quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 10,693,994 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $2,869,199,000 after acquiring an additional 546,198 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.14% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have weighed in on ACN. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their target price on Accenture from $315.00 to $270.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, June 3rd. Royal Bank Of Canada reduced their target price on Accenture from $295.00 to $253.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, March 20th. Truist Financial downgraded Accenture from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and reduced their target price for the stock from $260.00 to $210.00 in a report on Monday, June 1st. Robert W. Baird reduced their target price on Accenture from $330.00 to $265.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, March 20th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on Accenture from $247.00 to $201.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday. Seventeen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and ten have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $260.81.

Insider Buying and Selling at Accenture

In related news, CEO Atsushi Egawa sold 4,872 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $177.14, for a total value of $863,026.08. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 12,802 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,267,746.28. This represents a 27.57% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. 0.02% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Accenture Stock Performance

Accenture stock opened at $173.44 on Wednesday. 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 capitalization of $115.41 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.20, a PEG ratio of 1.65 and a beta of 1.08. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $183.47 and its 200 day moving average is $223.29. Accenture PLC has a twelve month low of $155.82 and a twelve month high of $321.77.

Accenture (NYSE:ACN) last posted its quarterly earnings results 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. The company had revenue of $18.04 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $17.80 billion. Accenture had a return on equity of 26.33% and a net margin of 10.61%.The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 7.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $2.82 EPS. On average, equities research analysts predict that Accenture PLC will post 13.88 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Accenture Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, April 9th were paid a $1.63 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, April 9th. This represents a $6.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.8%. Accenture’s dividend payout ratio is presently 53.40%.

Accenture News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting Accenture this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Analysts and market commentary remain constructive on Accenture’s long-term outlook, citing strong demand for cloud, cybersecurity and AI services, along with support from acquisitions and expanding client engagements. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Accenture’s launch of an AI Adoption Maturity Model with Carnegie Mellon’s SEI underscores its push to deepen enterprise AI consulting and strengthen its competitive position in AI readiness services. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Several brokers maintained bullish ratings despite trimming price targets, including JPMorgan and TD Cowen, which still see meaningful upside from current levels. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: Accenture announced the acquisition of creator marketing agency Whalar, a move that broadens its digital and marketing services footprint but also adds integration/execution risk. Article Title
• Negative Sentiment: ACN shares have been falling recently even as the broader market rose, suggesting investors are cautious about near-term momentum and possibly digesting the impact of the Whalar deal and valuation concerns. Article Title

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.