Nvwm LLC Decreases Stake in Accenture plc (NYSE:ACN)

Nvwm LLC cut its holdings in shares of Accenture plc (NYSE:ACN) by 5.9% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 7,924 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock after selling 497 shares during the quarter. Nvwm LLC’s holdings in Accenture were worth $2,747,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in ACN. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Accenture during the 4th quarter valued at $2,061,490,000. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main raised its stake in shares of Accenture by 100.0% during the 4th quarter. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main now owns 1,751,531 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $614,615,000 after purchasing an additional 875,723 shares during the period. Winslow Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in Accenture during the 4th quarter worth about $288,168,000. Generation Investment Management LLP bought a new position in Accenture in the 4th quarter worth about $286,220,000. Finally, Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado bought a new stake in shares of Accenture during the fourth quarter valued at about $263,421,000. Institutional investors own 75.14% of the company’s stock.

Accenture Stock Up 4.2 %

Shares of ACN traded up $12.64 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $310.63. 3,951,627 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 4,081,634. The firm has a market capitalization of $194.67 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.45, a PEG ratio of 3.32 and a beta of 1.23. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $299.12 and its 200-day moving average price is $332.98. Accenture plc has a 1 year low of $278.69 and a 1 year high of $387.51.

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

Accenture Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, July 11th will be given a $1.29 dividend. This represents a $5.16 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.66%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, July 11th. Accenture’s dividend payout ratio is currently 47.25%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus cut their price objective on shares of Accenture from $395.00 to $340.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, June 12th. Bank of America cut their price target on shares of Accenture from $419.00 to $365.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, June 5th. Citigroup lowered their price objective on Accenture from $430.00 to $400.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, March 22nd. Guggenheim restated a “buy” rating and set a $395.00 target price on shares of Accenture in a research report on Friday, May 24th. Finally, Piper Sandler lowered their price target on Accenture from $379.00 to $320.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, June 17th. Twelve analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $351.82.

Insider Activity

In related news, General Counsel Joel Unruch sold 4,333 shares of the company’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 directly owns 30,702 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,705,516.24. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, insider Ellyn Shook sold 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $307.22, for a total transaction of $1,536,100.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 13,699 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,208,606.78. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, General Counsel Joel Unruch sold 4,333 shares of Accenture stock in a transaction on Friday, April 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $316.12, for a total value of $1,369,747.96. Following the transaction, the general counsel now owns 30,702 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,705,516.24. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.07% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.