Eldred Rock Partners LLC Acquires 16,584 Shares of Accenture PLC $ACN

Eldred Rock Partners LLC raised its holdings in shares of Accenture PLC (NYSE:ACN) by 47.2% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 51,755 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 16,584 shares during the quarter. Accenture accounts for about 3.6% of Eldred Rock Partners LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 12th largest position. Eldred Rock Partners LLC’s holdings in Accenture were worth $13,886,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Running Oak Capital LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Accenture by 14.3% in the 3rd quarter. Running Oak Capital LLC now owns 57,541 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $14,190,000 after purchasing an additional 7,190 shares during the period. Weitz Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in Accenture by 28.8% during the 3rd quarter. Weitz Investment Management Inc. now owns 160,550 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $39,592,000 after buying an additional 35,900 shares during the period. D.A. Davidson & CO. lifted its position in Accenture by 17.4% in the third quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. now owns 258,599 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $63,771,000 after buying an additional 38,325 shares during the last quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board boosted its stake in Accenture by 180.4% during the third quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 404,680 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $99,794,000 after buying an additional 260,357 shares during the period. Finally, Merit Financial Group LLC increased its position in Accenture by 25.5% during the third quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC now owns 22,401 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $5,524,000 after acquiring an additional 4,552 shares during the last quarter. 75.14% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Accenture Price Performance

Shares of ACN stock opened at $201.18 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $133.87 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.48, a P/E/G ratio of 1.87 and a beta of 1.24. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $218.82 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $243.39. Accenture PLC has a one year low of $187.00 and a one year 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.

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, beating the consensus estimate of $2.84 by $0.09. Accenture had a net margin of 10.61% and a return on equity of 26.33%. The firm had revenue of $18.04 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $17.80 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $2.82 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 7.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Accenture PLC will post 12.73 EPS for the current year.

Accenture Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 9th will be given a dividend of $1.63 per share. 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 is presently 53.40%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently issued reports on ACN. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “buy” rating and issued a $330.00 target price on shares of Accenture in a report on Thursday, December 18th. HSBC raised shares of Accenture from a “reduce” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $220.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Friday, March 20th. Evercore reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $300.00 target price on shares of Accenture in a research note on Thursday, December 18th. Susquehanna increased their price target on Accenture from $270.00 to $277.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, December 19th. Finally, Citigroup dropped their price objective on Accenture from $266.00 to $215.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 25th. Eighteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and ten have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $274.88.

Insider Activity

In related news, General Counsel Joel Unruch sold 1,332 shares of Accenture stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $275.00, for a total value of $366,300.00. Following the completion of the sale, the general counsel directly owned 28,207 shares in the company, valued at $7,756,925. The trade was a 4.51% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO John F. Walsh sold 3,986 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $276.38, for a total transaction of $1,101,650.68. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 27,221 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,523,339.98. The trade was a 12.77% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 22,088 shares of company stock valued at $5,970,434. Company insiders own 0.02% of the company’s stock.

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.