BIP Wealth LLC Takes Position in Accenture PLC $ACN

BIP Wealth LLC bought a new stake in shares of Accenture PLC (NYSE:ACN) in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund bought 4,490 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,205,000.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Perfromance Wealth Partners LLC boosted its stake in shares of Accenture by 2.9% during the fourth quarter. Perfromance Wealth Partners LLC now owns 6,276 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $1,684,000 after purchasing an additional 177 shares during the period. Clayton Financial Group LLC boosted its stake in shares of Accenture by 13.1% during the fourth quarter. Clayton Financial Group LLC now owns 329 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $88,000 after purchasing an additional 38 shares during the period. Modera Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Accenture by 23.4% during the fourth quarter. Modera Wealth Management LLC now owns 8,222 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $2,206,000 after purchasing an additional 1,558 shares during the period. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC boosted its stake in shares of Accenture by 8.8% during the fourth quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC now owns 850 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $228,000 after purchasing an additional 69 shares during the period. Finally, Groesbeck Investment Management Corp NJ purchased a new stake in shares of Accenture during the fourth quarter valued at $124,000. 75.14% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Accenture

In other news, General Counsel Joel Unruch sold 1,026 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $281.70, for a total transaction of $289,024.20. Following the transaction, the general counsel owned 27,181 shares in the company, valued at $7,656,887.70. This represents a 3.64% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Melissa A. Burgum sold 3,588 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $281.01, for a total transaction of $1,008,263.88. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 8,179 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,298,380.79. This trade represents a 30.49% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last quarter, insiders sold 20,256 shares of company stock valued at $5,464,134. 0.02% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Accenture Stock Performance

ACN stock opened at $193.92 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $129.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.88, a PEG ratio of 1.91 and a beta of 1.24. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $212.48 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $242.27. 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 quick ratio of 1.34 and a current ratio of 1.34.

Accenture (NYSE:ACN) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, March 20th. The information technology services provider reported $2.93 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.84 by $0.09. The business had revenue of $18.04 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $2.82 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts forecast that Accenture PLC will post 12.73 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Accenture Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 9th will be given a dividend of $1.63 per share. This represents a $6.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 9th. Accenture’s dividend payout ratio is presently 53.40%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on ACN. Rothschild & Co Redburn boosted their target price on shares of Accenture from $205.00 to $210.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, January 5th. Royal Bank Of Canada lowered their price objective on shares of Accenture from $295.00 to $253.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, March 20th. 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. Guggenheim lowered their price objective on shares of Accenture from $275.00 to $250.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, March 20th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lowered their price objective on shares of Accenture from $300.00 to $230.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, March 20th. Eighteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and ten have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $274.88.

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.