Punch & Associates Investment Management Inc. Sells 18,750 Shares of Accenture PLC $ACN

Punch & Associates Investment Management Inc. trimmed its holdings in Accenture PLC (NYSE:ACN) by 56.3% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 14,545 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock after selling 18,750 shares during the quarter. Punch & Associates Investment Management Inc.’s holdings in Accenture were worth $3,902,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Jaffetilchin Investment Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Accenture by 4.2% in the 4th quarter. Jaffetilchin Investment Partners LLC now owns 878 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $236,000 after acquiring an additional 35 shares during the last quarter. Clayton Financial Group LLC raised its holdings in Accenture by 13.1% during the 4th quarter. Clayton Financial Group LLC now owns 329 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $88,000 after buying an additional 38 shares during the last quarter. Holt Capital Advisors L.L.C. dba Holt Capital Partners L.P. raised its holdings in Accenture by 0.9% during the 3rd quarter. Holt Capital Advisors L.L.C. dba Holt Capital Partners L.P. now owns 4,416 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $1,089,000 after buying an additional 41 shares during the last quarter. Peak Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in Accenture by 0.8% during the 4th quarter. Peak Asset Management LLC now owns 5,447 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $1,461,000 after buying an additional 43 shares during the last quarter. Finally, SkyView Investment Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Accenture by 1.2% during the 2nd quarter. SkyView Investment Advisors LLC now owns 3,751 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $1,108,000 after buying an additional 43 shares during the last quarter. 75.14% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Key Stories Impacting Accenture

Here are the key news stories impacting Accenture this week:

• Negative Sentiment: Susquehanna cut its price target on Accenture to $186 from $222 and kept a neutral rating, adding to the cautious tone around the stock ahead of earnings. Susquehanna adjusts price target on Accenture
• Negative Sentiment: Jefferies also lowered its target on Accenture to $185 from $210 and maintained a hold rating, reinforcing concerns that near-term upside may be limited. Jefferies adjusts price target on Accenture
• Neutral Sentiment: Investors are waiting for Accenture’s fiscal third-quarter results on June 18, with expectations for revenue and EPS growth that could determine whether the recent weakness continues or reverses. Accenture set to report Q3 earnings
• Neutral Sentiment: Accenture is also in the spotlight after Unilever said it is scaling AI-enabled digital twins across its manufacturing network with Accenture, highlighting ongoing enterprise AI work, though the announcement is not a major immediate catalyst. Unilever scales digital twins across global manufacturing network with Accenture
• Neutral Sentiment: Accenture received an award recognizing its AI innovation across its workforce, which supports the company’s AI narrative but is unlikely to move the stock on its own. Accenture award underscores AI role

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on the stock. BMO Capital Markets lowered their price target 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. UBS Group reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Accenture in a report on Tuesday. Robert W. Baird lowered their price target on shares of Accenture from $330.00 to $265.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, March 20th. Morgan Stanley reiterated an “equal weight” rating and set a $177.00 price target (down from $240.00) on shares of Accenture in a report on Monday. Finally, Wolfe Research reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $200.00 price target on shares of Accenture in a report on Tuesday. Sixteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eleven have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $245.85.

Accenture Stock Up 0.3%

Shares of Accenture stock opened at $165.84 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.34, a quick ratio of 1.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $180.37 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $220.51. The company has a market cap of $110.36 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.58, a PEG ratio of 1.57 and a beta of 1.08. Accenture PLC has a 12-month low of $155.82 and a 12-month high of $315.95.

Accenture (NYSE:ACN) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, March 20th. The information technology services provider reported $2.93 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.84 by $0.09. The business had revenue of $18.04 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $17.80 billion. Accenture had a net margin of 10.61% and a return on equity of 26.33%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 7.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $2.82 EPS. Research analysts anticipate that Accenture PLC will post 13.83 EPS for the current year.

Accenture Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 9th were given a $1.63 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, April 9th. This represents a $6.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.9%. Accenture’s dividend payout ratio is currently 53.40%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Accenture

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 value of $863,026.08. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 12,802 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,267,746.28. This represents a 27.57% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. 0.02% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.