Brown Advisory Inc. Has $62.49 Million Position in Accenture PLC $ACN

Brown Advisory Inc. lessened its position in Accenture PLC (NYSE:ACN) by 6.8% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 232,891 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock after selling 17,037 shares during the period. Brown Advisory Inc.’s holdings in Accenture were worth $62,485,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Triumph Capital Management bought a new position in shares of Accenture during the third quarter worth about $26,000. Board of the Pension Protection Fund bought a new position in shares of Accenture during the fourth quarter worth about $27,000. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Accenture during the 4th quarter valued at about $27,000. McMillan Office Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Accenture during the 4th quarter valued at about $27,000. Finally, Private Wealth Management Group LLC boosted its position in shares of Accenture by 96.4% during the 4th quarter. Private Wealth Management Group LLC now owns 108 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 53 shares in the last quarter. 75.14% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Accenture Price Performance

Shares of NYSE ACN opened at $169.95 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $113.09 billion, a PE ratio of 13.92, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 1.09. Accenture PLC has a fifty-two week low of $155.82 and a fifty-two week high of $317.30. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a quick ratio of 1.34 and a current ratio of 1.34. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $181.79 and a 200-day moving average of $221.68.

Accenture (NYSE:ACN) last announced 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. The company had revenue of $18.04 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations 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% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.82 earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that Accenture PLC will post 13.84 earnings per share for the current year.

Accenture Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 9th were given a $1.63 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, April 9th. This represents a $6.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.8%. Accenture’s payout ratio is 53.40%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Atsushi Egawa sold 4,872 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $177.14, for a total transaction 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. The trade was a 27.57% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through 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.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have issued reports on ACN shares. TD Cowen cut their price target on Accenture from $282.00 to $258.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, June 8th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft dropped their target price on Accenture from $210.00 to $199.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, June 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on Accenture from $247.00 to $201.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, June 8th. Truist Financial lowered Accenture from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and dropped their target price for the company from $260.00 to $210.00 in a report on Monday, June 1st. Finally, Mizuho decreased their price target on Accenture from $309.00 to $280.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, March 23rd. Seventeen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and ten have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Accenture presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $257.56.

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.