Accenture plc (NYSE:ACN) Shares Acquired by Optas LLC

Optas LLC boosted its stake in shares of Accenture plc (NYSE:ACN) by 9.8% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 1,192 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock after buying an additional 106 shares during the quarter. Optas LLC’s holdings in Accenture were worth $413,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Accenture by 0.3% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 58,434,025 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $17,945,673,000 after buying an additional 184,541 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its holdings in shares of Accenture by 7.0% during the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 11,034,666 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $3,388,856,000 after purchasing an additional 720,647 shares during the period. Capital Research Global Investors boosted its holdings in shares of Accenture by 1.9% in the fourth quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 8,479,430 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $2,975,517,000 after acquiring an additional 159,696 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Accenture during the 4th quarter worth approximately $2,061,490,000. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in Accenture by 1.6% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 4,466,684 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $1,556,676,000 after acquiring an additional 68,635 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.14% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Accenture

In other news, General Counsel Joel Unruch sold 4,333 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, April 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $316.12, for a total transaction of $1,369,747.96. Following the transaction, the general counsel now directly owns 30,702 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,705,516.24. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, General Counsel Joel Unruch sold 4,333 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, April 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $316.12, for a total value of $1,369,747.96. Following the sale, the general counsel now owns 30,702 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,705,516.24. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Ellyn Shook sold 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $307.22, for a total transaction of $1,536,100.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 13,699 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,208,606.78. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 20,083 shares of company stock valued at $6,302,285 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.07% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. TD Cowen cut their price target on Accenture from $294.00 to $293.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, June 21st. Redburn Atlantic raised their target price on shares of Accenture from $410.00 to $445.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 19th. Bank of America dropped their price target on Accenture from $419.00 to $365.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, June 5th. BMO Capital Markets cut their target price on shares of Accenture from $375.00 to $350.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, June 21st. Finally, Mizuho reduced their price target on Accenture from $398.00 to $350.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, June 18th. Twelve analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $352.74.

Accenture Trading Up 0.1 %

ACN traded up $0.22 on Friday, hitting $303.41. 14,905,693 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,036,297. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $300.17 and a two-hundred day moving average of $336.05. Accenture plc has a twelve month low of $278.69 and a twelve month high of $387.51. The firm has a market cap of $203.51 billion, a PE ratio of 27.78, a P/E/G ratio of 3.38 and a beta of 1.21.

Accenture (NYSE:ACN) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, June 20th. The information technology services provider reported $3.13 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.15 by ($0.02). The company had revenue of $16.47 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.55 billion. Accenture had a net margin of 10.79% and a return on equity of 27.48%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down .6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $3.19 EPS. On average, analysts predict that Accenture plc will post 11.95 EPS for the current year.

Accenture Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, July 11th will be given a $1.29 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, July 11th. This represents a $5.16 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.70%. Accenture’s dividend payout ratio is presently 47.25%.

Accenture Company 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.