On the four Ms, Accenture plc earns 100 for management and 80 for moat. The management score rests on a return on invested capital of 16.4% and a gross margin of 32.0% — figures that describe a business turning capital into profit efficiently. Debt sits at 0.34x equity.
Three independent anchors set the price worth paying. Growth is modelled at 8.0% a year, the rate measured from the filings. The exit multiple assumed is 16.0x. That produces an intrinsic value of $115.29, a 10-CAP price of $195.67 and a payback time price of $224.58, with the value zone set at the highest of the three, $224.58. Today's price of $212.30 sits inside that zone.
A business scoring this well, trading inside its value zone, is the combination the framework exists to find — which is also the reason to check why the market disagrees. A margin of safety score of 27 describes the cushion, not the certainty.
| Price | $212.30 |
| Market cap | $129.9B |
| P/E ratio | 15.7x |
| Return on invested capital | 16.4% |
| Gross margin | 32.0% |
| Debt to equity | 0.34x |
| Free cash flow yield | 10.0% |
| Growth rate used | 8.0% |
| Growth rate measured | 8.0% |
| Exit multiple assumed | 16.0x |
| Company | Moat | Buy price |
| IBM Corporation (IBM) | 50 | $147.04 |
| Fiserv Inc. (FI) | 78 | $119.99 |
| Cognizant Technology (CTSH) | 57 | $57.80 |
| Broadridge Financial Solutions (BR) | 95 | $134.87 |
Every number above is built on assumptions that can be changed. In Moatly you can move the growth rate, the exit multiple and the margin of safety and watch every figure recalculate, so you are testing your own view of Accenture plc rather than accepting ours.