Industrial Alliance Investment Management Inc. Grows Stake in Accenture plc (NYSE:ACN)

Industrial Alliance Investment Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Accenture plc (NYSE:ACN) by 3.9% in the first quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 3,269 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 122 shares during the period. Accenture comprises approximately 0.5% of Industrial Alliance Investment Management Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 24th biggest position. Industrial Alliance Investment Management Inc.’s holdings in Accenture were worth $1,133,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Chilton Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Accenture by 180.0% during the 4th quarter. Chilton Capital Management LLC now owns 70 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 45 shares during the last quarter. DiNuzzo Private Wealth Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Accenture during the 4th quarter worth $27,000. Annapolis Financial Services LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Accenture by 507.7% during the 1st quarter. Annapolis Financial Services LLC now owns 79 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $27,000 after acquiring an additional 66 shares during the last quarter. Ables Iannone Moore & Associates Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Accenture during the 4th quarter worth $29,000. Finally, Atwood & Palmer Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Accenture by 214.8% during the 1st quarter. Atwood & Palmer Inc. now owns 85 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 58 shares during the last quarter. 75.14% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Accenture

In other Accenture news, CEO Julie Spellman Sweet sold 3,776 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $309.05, for a total value of $1,166,972.80. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 11,819 shares in the company, valued at $3,652,661.95. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other Accenture news, CEO Julie Spellman Sweet sold 3,776 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $309.05, for a total value of $1,166,972.80. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 11,819 shares in the company, valued at $3,652,661.95. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Ellyn Shook sold 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $329.82, for a total transaction of $1,649,100.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 8,989 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,964,751.98. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 21,421 shares of company stock worth $6,912,635 over the last 90 days. 0.07% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Accenture Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE ACN traded up $3.00 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $329.20. 1,985,285 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,931,302. Accenture plc has a 12-month low of $278.69 and a 12-month high of $387.51. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $303.51 and a 200 day moving average price of $331.52. The firm has a market cap of $206.31 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.15, a P/E/G ratio of 3.66 and a beta of 1.23.

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

Accenture Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, July 11th will be given a dividend of $1.29 per share. This represents a $5.16 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.57%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, July 11th. Accenture’s dividend payout ratio is currently 47.25%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on ACN shares. The Goldman Sachs Group started coverage on shares of Accenture in a report on Monday, June 24th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $335.00 price objective for the company. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft downgraded shares of Accenture from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and lowered their price target for the stock from $409.00 to $295.00 in a research note on Wednesday, May 15th. Mizuho lowered their price target on shares of Accenture from $398.00 to $350.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, June 18th. Piper Sandler lowered their price target on shares of Accenture from $379.00 to $320.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, June 17th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price target on shares of Accenture from $395.00 to $340.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, June 12th. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $351.82.

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.