Accenture plc (NYSE:ACN) Short Interest Update

Accenture plc (NYSE:ACN) was the target of a significant decline in short interest in March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totalling 7,070,000 shares, a decline of 5.9% from the March 15th total of 7,510,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 2,310,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 3.1 days. Currently, 1.1% of the company’s stock are short sold.

Accenture Price Performance

Shares of NYSE ACN opened at $314.73 on Thursday. Accenture has a 1 year low of $261.68 and a 1 year high of $387.51. The company has a market capitalization of $211.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.53, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.97 and a beta of 1.19. The business has a 50-day moving average of $357.35 and a two-hundred day moving average of $341.95.

Accenture (NYSE:ACN) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, March 21st. The information technology services provider reported $2.77 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.66 by $0.11. Accenture had a return on equity of 28.30% and a net margin of 10.89%. The firm had revenue of $15.80 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $15.85 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $2.69 EPS. The business’s revenue was down .1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Accenture will post 12.09 earnings per share for the current year.

Accenture Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, April 11th will be given a $1.29 dividend. This represents a $5.16 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.64%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, April 10th. Accenture’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 46.78%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts recently issued reports on the company. BNP Paribas raised Accenture from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $440.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, January 17th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on shares of Accenture from $400.00 to $417.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, March 18th. Robert W. Baird lifted their price objective on shares of Accenture from $364.00 to $375.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, March 7th. TD Cowen reduced their target price on shares of Accenture from $363.00 to $350.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, March 22nd. Finally, BMO Capital Markets decreased their price objective on Accenture from $385.00 to $375.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, March 22nd. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have given 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 $387.00.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Jean-Marc Ollagnier sold 6,250 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, April 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $315.91, for a total value of $1,974,437.50. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 161,581 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $51,045,053.71. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other Accenture news, CEO Jean-Marc Ollagnier sold 6,250 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, April 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $315.91, for a total transaction of $1,974,437.50. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 161,581 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $51,045,053.71. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CFO Kathleen R. Mcclure sold 4,500 shares of Accenture stock in a transaction on Friday, April 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $316.00, for a total value of $1,422,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 42,781 shares in the company, valued at $13,518,796. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 41,750 shares of company stock valued at $14,543,436. 0.07% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Accenture

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Ameriprise Financial Inc. lifted its position in Accenture by 2.3% in the third quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 4,284,770 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $1,315,832,000 after purchasing an additional 96,414 shares during the period. Redwood Investments LLC raised its position in Accenture by 8.3% in the fourth quarter. Redwood Investments LLC now owns 20,227 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $7,098,000 after acquiring an additional 1,542 shares in the last quarter. Dash Acquisitions Inc. boosted its position in shares of Accenture by 1.0% during the 3rd quarter. Dash Acquisitions Inc. now owns 34,043 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $10,361,000 after purchasing an additional 330 shares in the last quarter. Chicago Capital LLC grew its stake in shares of Accenture by 284.7% during the 4th quarter. Chicago Capital LLC now owns 12,677 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $4,449,000 after purchasing an additional 9,382 shares during the period. Finally, Fortress Wealth Group LLC lifted its stake in shares of Accenture by 5.4% in the third quarter. Fortress Wealth Group LLC now owns 1,220 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $374,000 after purchasing an additional 62 shares during the period. 75.14% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.