Alps Advisors Inc. Boosts Stake in Accenture PLC $ACN

Alps Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Accenture PLC (NYSE:ACN) by 73.3% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 216,930 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock after buying an additional 91,748 shares during the period. Accenture accounts for about 0.3% of Alps Advisors Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 25th biggest holding. Alps Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Accenture were worth $58,202,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Triumph Capital Management purchased a new stake in Accenture during the third quarter worth $26,000. Board of the Pension Protection Fund purchased a new stake in Accenture during the fourth quarter worth $27,000. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Accenture during the fourth quarter worth $27,000. Private Wealth Management Group LLC lifted its holdings in Accenture by 96.4% during the fourth quarter. Private Wealth Management Group LLC now owns 108 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 53 shares during the period. Finally, Steph & Co. lifted its holdings in Accenture by 107.5% during the fourth quarter. Steph & Co. now owns 110 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $30,000 after buying an additional 57 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.14% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have weighed in on ACN. Citigroup lowered their target price on Accenture from $215.00 to $195.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday, June 1st. TD Cowen decreased their price objective on Accenture from $282.00 to $258.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday. UBS Group reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Accenture in a report on Tuesday, March 17th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on Accenture from $247.00 to $201.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on Accenture from $275.00 to $248.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, June 4th. Seventeen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and ten have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Accenture currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $259.89.

Accenture Stock Performance

Shares of ACN opened at $167.69 on Friday. 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 $182.33 and a 200-day moving average price of $222.20. Accenture PLC has a 12 month low of $155.82 and a 12 month high of $318.62. The firm has a market cap of $111.59 billion, a PE ratio of 13.73, a P/E/G ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 1.08.

Accenture (NYSE:ACN) last released its earnings results on Friday, March 20th. The information technology services provider reported $2.93 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.84 by $0.09. Accenture had a return on equity of 26.33% and a net margin of 10.61%.The firm had revenue of $18.04 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $17.80 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $2.82 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 7.8% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts predict that Accenture PLC will post 13.87 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Accenture Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Atsushi Egawa sold 4,872 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $177.14, for a total value of $863,026.08. Following the transaction, 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 legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. 0.02% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.