Accenture Plc (NYSE:ACN) was in 28 hedge funds’ portfolio at the end of March. ACN investors should be aware of an increase in hedge fund sentiment recently. There were 24 hedge funds in our database with ACN holdings at the end of the previous quarter.
In today’s marketplace, there are plenty of metrics shareholders can use to analyze Mr. Market. A couple of the best are hedge fund and insider trading activity. At Insider Monkey, our research analyses have shown that, historically, those who follow the best picks of the top hedge fund managers can outclass the S&P 500 by a superb margin (see just how much).
Just as key, positive insider trading sentiment is a second way to break down the financial markets. There are many incentives for an executive to get rid of shares of his or her company, but just one, very simple reason why they would buy. Several academic studies have demonstrated the valuable potential of this method if you know what to do (learn more here).
With these “truths” under our belt, it’s important to take a look at the latest action encompassing Accenture Plc (NYSE:ACN).
Hedge fund activity in Accenture Plc (NYSE:ACN)
At Q1’s end, a total of 28 of the hedge funds we track were bullish in this stock, a change of 17% from the previous quarter. With hedge funds’ capital changing hands, there exists an “upper tier” of notable hedge fund managers who were boosting their stakes considerably.
When looking at the hedgies we track, Paul Ruddock and Steve Heinz’s Lansdowne Partners had the most valuable position in Accenture Plc (NYSE:ACN), worth close to $692 million, comprising 9.5% of its total 13F portfolio. On Lansdowne Partners’s heels is Columbus Circle Investors, managed by Donald Chiboucis, which held a $156.3 million position; the fund has 1.2% of its 13F portfolio invested in the stock. Some other hedge funds that are bullish include Cliff Asness’s AQR Capital Management, Phill Gross and Robert Atchinson’s Adage Capital Management and John W. Rogers’s Ariel Investments.
Consequently, key money managers were leading the bulls’ herd. AQR Capital Management, managed by Cliff Asness, initiated the most outsized position in Accenture Plc (NYSE:ACN). AQR Capital Management had 97.8 million invested in the company at the end of the quarter. Dmitry Balyasny’s Balyasny Asset Management also made a $5.6 million investment in the stock during the quarter. The other funds with new positions in the stock are D. E. Shaw’s D E Shaw, John Overdeck and David Siegel’s Two Sigma Advisors, and Joel Greenblatt’s Gotham Asset Management.
How are insiders trading Accenture Plc (NYSE:ACN)?
Insider buying is particularly usable when the company in question has experienced transactions within the past six months. Over the latest six-month time frame, Accenture Plc (NYSE:ACN) has seen zero unique insiders buying, and 11 insider sales (see the details of insider trades here).
Let’s go over hedge fund and insider activity in other stocks similar to Accenture Plc (NYSE:ACN). These stocks are Gartner Inc (NYSE:IT), Rackspace Hosting, Inc. (NYSE:RAX), Computer Sciences Corporation (NYSE:CSC), Xerox Corporation (NYSE:XRX), and Wipro Limited (ADR) (NYSE:WIT). This group of stocks belong to the information technology services industry and their market caps are similar to ACN’s market cap.
| Company Name | # of Hedge Funds | # of Insiders Buying | # of Insiders Selling |
| Gartner Inc (NYSE:IT) | 6 | 0 | 10 |
| Rackspace Hosting, Inc. (NYSE:RAX) | 18 | 0 | 14 |
| Computer Sciences Corporation (NYSE:CSC) | 26 | 0 | 1 |
| Xerox Corporation (NYSE:XRX) | 39 | 0 | 6 |
| Wipro Limited (ADR) (NYSE:WIT) | 7 | 0 | 0 |
With the results demonstrated by our research, everyday investors should always watch hedge fund and insider trading sentiment, and Accenture Plc (NYSE:ACN) applies perfectly to this mantra.
