Stevens Capital Management LP Makes New $1.04 Million Investment in Accenture PLC $ACN

Stevens Capital Management LP purchased a new stake in Accenture PLC (NYSE:ACN) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor purchased 3,863 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,036,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in Accenture by 1.3% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 66,070,930 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $17,726,831,000 after buying an additional 854,361 shares during the period. State Street Corp raised its stake in shares of 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 valued at $6,938,156,000 after acquiring an additional 118,460 shares during the period. Capital International Investors lifted 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 acquiring an additional 4,984,930 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its position 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 purchasing an additional 546,198 shares during the period. Finally, Sanders Capital LLC increased its holdings in Accenture by 9.0% in the 3rd 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 during the last quarter. 75.14% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Accenture Trading Down 0.6%

NYSE:ACN opened at $179.10 on Wednesday. Accenture PLC has a 12-month low of $173.56 and a 12-month high of $325.71. The firm has a market cap of $119.18 billion, a PE ratio of 14.67, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.71 and a beta of 1.08. 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 stock has a fifty day moving average price of $195.74 and a 200 day moving average price of $235.35.

Accenture (NYSE:ACN) last posted its quarterly earnings results 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 company had revenue of $18.04 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $17.80 billion. Accenture had a return on equity of 26.33% and a net margin of 10.61%.Accenture’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $2.82 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Accenture PLC will post 13.87 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Accenture Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, April 9th will be paid a $1.63 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 9th. This represents a $6.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.6%. Accenture’s payout ratio is currently 53.40%.

Insider Activity at Accenture

In other news, CEO Julie Spellman Sweet sold 6,057 shares of Accenture stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $241.23, for a total transaction of $1,461,130.11. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 15,255 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,679,963.65. The trade was a 28.42% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Atsushi Egawa sold 4,872 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 12,802 shares in the company, valued at $2,267,746.28. This trade represents a 27.57% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders own 0.02% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

ACN has been the topic of a number of research reports. Truist Financial decreased their price target on Accenture from $317.00 to $260.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, March 10th. TD Cowen cut their price objective on Accenture from $282.00 to $275.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, March 16th. HSBC decreased their target price on Accenture from $220.00 to $210.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 14th. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their target price on Accenture from $270.00 to $280.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 8th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada reduced their price target on shares of Accenture from $295.00 to $253.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, March 20th. Seventeen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and ten have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $274.50.

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.