Border to Coast Pensions Partnership Ltd Grows Stake in Accenture plc (NYSE:ACN)

Border to Coast Pensions Partnership Ltd increased its position in shares of Accenture plc (NYSE:ACN - Free Report) by 25.7% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 157,719 shares of the information technology services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 32,264 shares during the period. Accenture makes up about 1.1% of Border to Coast Pensions Partnership Ltd's holdings, making the stock its 25th biggest position. Border to Coast Pensions Partnership Ltd's holdings in Accenture were worth $55,447,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Tompkins Financial Corp boosted its position in shares of Accenture by 1.7% during the 4th quarter. Tompkins Financial Corp now owns 18,478 shares of the information technology services provider's stock valued at $6,500,000 after acquiring an additional 305 shares during the last quarter. Empirical Asset Management LLC grew its stake in Accenture by 234.0% in the 4th quarter. Empirical Asset Management LLC now owns 44,524 shares of the information technology services provider's stock worth $15,663,000 after buying an additional 31,195 shares in the last quarter. Cvfg LLC bought a new position in shares of Accenture in the 4th quarter worth $954,000. Salvus Wealth Management LLC raised its position in shares of Accenture by 2.4% during the 4th quarter. Salvus Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,434 shares of the information technology services provider's stock valued at $504,000 after buying an additional 33 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ullmann Wealth Partners Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Accenture during the 4th quarter worth $236,000. 75.14% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Accenture Stock Up 0.5 %

Shares of ACN stock traded up $1.77 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $352.33. The company's stock had a trading volume of 4,061,199 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,320,392. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17, a quick ratio of 1.47 and a current ratio of 1.47. Accenture plc has a 52-week low of $278.69 and a 52-week high of $387.51. The stock has a market cap of $220.49 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.56, a PEG ratio of 3.11 and a beta of 1.24. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $357.59 and a 200 day moving average price of $345.36.

Accenture (NYSE:ACN - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, December 19th. The information technology services provider reported $3.59 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $3.43 by $0.16. Accenture had a net margin of 11.41% and a return on equity of 26.91%. The firm had revenue of $17.69 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $17.15 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $3.27 EPS. The business's quarterly revenue was up 9.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts predict that Accenture plc will post 12.69 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Accenture Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 14th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, January 16th will be paid a $1.48 dividend. This represents a $5.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.68%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, January 16th. Accenture's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 49.66%.

Accenture announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock buyback program on Thursday, September 26th that permits the company to buyback $4.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the information technology services provider to purchase up to 1.8% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are generally a sign that the company's board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on ACN shares. Barclays raised their price target on Accenture from $350.00 to $415.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday, September 30th. StockNews.com upgraded Accenture from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Guggenheim lifted their price target on shares of Accenture from $380.00 to $395.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, September 27th. Robert W. Baird reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and set a $370.00 target price on shares of Accenture in a report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upped their price target on shares of Accenture from $355.00 to $385.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $385.04.

Insider Transactions at Accenture

In related news, CEO Julie Spellman Sweet sold 9,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $376.16, for a total transaction of $3,385,440.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 20,324 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,645,075.84. This trade represents a 30.69 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Angela Beatty sold 673 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $372.18, for a total transaction of $250,477.14. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 5,650 shares in the company, valued at $2,102,817. This trade represents a 10.64 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 26,125 shares of company stock worth $9,570,260 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.02% of the company's stock.

Accenture Profile

Accenture plc, a professional services company, provides strategy and consulting, industry X, song, and technology and operation services worldwide. The company offers application services, including agile transformation, DevOps, application modernization, enterprise architecture, software and quality engineering, data management; intelligent automation comprising robotic process automation, natural language processing, and virtual agents; and application management services, as well as software engineering services; strategy and consulting services; data and analytics strategy, data discovery and augmentation, data management and beyond, data democratization, and industrialized solutions comprising turnkey analytics and artificial intelligence (AI) solutions; metaverse; and sustainability services.