GFG Capital LLC Raises Stake in Accenture plc (NYSE:ACN)

GFG Capital LLC grew its holdings in Accenture plc (NYSE:ACN) by 519.1% in the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 9,682 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock after buying an additional 8,118 shares during the period. Accenture accounts for approximately 0.8% of GFG Capital LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 27th largest position. GFG Capital LLC’s holdings in Accenture were worth $2,938,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the business. Freedom Day Solutions LLC increased its holdings in shares of Accenture by 3.8% in the second quarter. Freedom Day Solutions LLC now owns 9,487 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $2,878,000 after purchasing an additional 345 shares during the period. West Coast Financial LLC increased its stake in Accenture by 0.9% in the 2nd quarter. West Coast Financial LLC now owns 34,215 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $10,381,000 after buying an additional 298 shares during the period. Carnegie Investment Counsel raised its position in Accenture by 2.4% during the 2nd quarter. Carnegie Investment Counsel now owns 89,959 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $27,295,000 after buying an additional 2,092 shares during the last quarter. Sunpointe LLC lifted its stake in shares of Accenture by 5.3% in the 2nd quarter. Sunpointe LLC now owns 741 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $225,000 after acquiring an additional 37 shares during the period. Finally, Pallas Capital Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Accenture by 4.8% in the second quarter. Pallas Capital Advisors LLC now owns 17,574 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $5,766,000 after acquiring an additional 801 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.14% of the company’s stock.

Accenture Price Performance

NYSE:ACN traded up $0.77 on Tuesday, reaching $330.21. The stock had a trading volume of 1,790,095 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,866,953. The company has a market cap of $206.94 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.16, a P/E/G ratio of 3.66 and a beta of 1.23. Accenture plc has a 12-month low of $278.69 and a 12-month high of $387.51. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $311.90 and its two-hundred day moving average is $326.99.

Accenture (NYSE:ACN) last announced its earnings results 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). Accenture had a return on equity of 27.48% and a net margin of 10.79%. The firm had revenue of $16.47 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.55 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $3.19 EPS. The firm’s revenue was down .6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts forecast that Accenture plc will post 11.95 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Accenture Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, July 11th were paid a $1.29 dividend. This represents a $5.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.56%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, July 11th. Accenture’s payout ratio is 47.25%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on ACN shares. Barclays reduced their price objective on shares of Accenture from $390.00 to $350.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, June 17th. Robert W. Baird dropped their price objective on Accenture from $372.00 to $345.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, May 16th. StockNews.com downgraded Accenture from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, April 27th. UBS Group raised shares of Accenture from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $400.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Friday, July 19th. Finally, Guggenheim reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $395.00 price objective on shares of Accenture in a research note on Friday, May 24th. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $351.82.

Insider Activity

In other Accenture news, insider Ellyn Shook sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $329.82, for a total transaction of $1,649,100.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 8,989 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,964,751.98. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, insider Ellyn Shook sold 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $329.82, for a total value of $1,649,100.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 8,989 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,964,751.98. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, General Counsel Joel Unruch sold 8,145 shares of Accenture stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $331.05, for a total value of $2,696,402.25. Following the completion of the transaction, the general counsel now directly owns 22,849 shares in the company, valued at $7,564,161.45. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 21,421 shares of company stock valued at $6,912,635 in the last 90 days. 0.07% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Accenture 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.