Accenture PLC $ACN Shares Bought by Bright Rock Capital Management LLC

Bright Rock Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Accenture PLC (NYSE:ACN) by 25.0% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 35,000 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 7,000 shares during the period. Accenture accounts for about 1.8% of Bright Rock Capital Management LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 17th biggest position. Bright Rock Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Accenture were worth $9,390,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Parkwoods Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Accenture in the 4th quarter valued at about $207,000. Lord & Richards Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in Accenture by 17.1% in the 4th quarter. Lord & Richards Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,194 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $589,000 after purchasing an additional 320 shares during the last quarter. Range Financial Group LLC raised its position in shares of Accenture by 5.6% in the fourth quarter. Range Financial Group LLC now owns 2,064 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $554,000 after buying an additional 109 shares during the last quarter. Silver Oak Securities Incorporated raised its holdings in Accenture by 317.9% in the 4th quarter. Silver Oak Securities Incorporated now owns 3,272 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $884,000 after acquiring an additional 2,489 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Jaffetilchin Investment Partners LLC increased its stake in Accenture by 4.2% in the fourth quarter. Jaffetilchin Investment Partners LLC now owns 878 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $236,000 after purchasing an additional 35 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.14% of the company’s stock.

Accenture Stock Performance

Shares of ACN stock opened at $197.43 on Tuesday. Accenture PLC has a 12-month low of $187.00 and a 12-month high of $325.71. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 1.34 and a quick ratio of 1.34. The firm has a market capitalization of $131.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.17, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.83 and a beta of 1.28. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $223.66 and a 200 day simple moving average of $244.30.

Accenture (NYSE:ACN) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 19th. The information technology services provider reported $2.93 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.84 by $0.09. The company had revenue of $18.04 billion during 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%.The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 7.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $2.82 EPS. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Accenture PLC will post 12.73 EPS for the current year.

Accenture Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, April 9th will be paid a dividend of $1.63 per share. This represents a $6.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.3%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 9th. Accenture’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 53.40%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently commented on ACN. Susquehanna upped their price objective on Accenture from $270.00 to $277.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, December 19th. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their target price on shares of Accenture from $270.00 to $280.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 8th. Berenberg Bank initiated coverage on Accenture in a report on Thursday, January 22nd. They issued a “buy” rating and a $313.00 price target for the company. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective 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, Piper Sandler set a $282.00 target price on Accenture in a report on Thursday, March 5th. Eighteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and ten have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Accenture has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $274.88.

Insider Activity

In other news, COO Catherine Kiernan Hogan sold 660 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, January 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $280.93, for a total transaction of $185,413.80. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer directly owned 12,688 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,564,439.84. This trade represents a 4.94% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Julie Spellman Sweet sold 6,057 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 15,255 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,679,963.65. This represents a 28.42% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold 22,088 shares of company stock valued at $5,970,434 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.02% of the company’s stock.

Accenture Company 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.