Wedbush Securities Inc. raised its holdings in Accenture plc (NYSE:ACN – Free Report) by 12.2% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 8,781 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 957 shares during the quarter. Wedbush Securities Inc.’s holdings in Accenture were worth $2,664,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.
Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Unique Wealth Strategies LLC purchased a new position in shares of Accenture in the second quarter valued at $26,000. Annapolis Financial Services LLC lifted its stake in Accenture by 507.7% in the 1st quarter. Annapolis Financial Services LLC now owns 79 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $27,000 after buying an additional 66 shares in the last quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC acquired a new stake in Accenture during the 2nd quarter valued at $28,000. Ables Iannone Moore & Associates Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Accenture in the fourth quarter worth $29,000. Finally, Atwood & Palmer Inc. lifted its position in shares of Accenture by 214.8% in the first quarter. Atwood & Palmer Inc. now owns 85 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 58 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.14% of the company’s stock.
Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth
Several brokerages recently weighed in on ACN. Bank of America cut their target price on shares of Accenture from $419.00 to $365.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, June 5th. Piper Sandler decreased their price objective on Accenture from $379.00 to $320.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, June 17th. Robert W. Baird decreased their price target on Accenture from $372.00 to $345.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, May 16th. Susquehanna decreased their price target on shares of Accenture from $360.00 to $350.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, June 21st. Finally, Morgan Stanley downgraded Accenture from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and cut their price objective for the stock from $382.00 to $300.00 in a report on Wednesday, June 26th. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Accenture presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $353.41.
Accenture Stock Up 0.6 %
ACN stock opened at $341.71 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $214.15 billion, a PE ratio of 31.29, a P/E/G ratio of 3.60 and a beta of 1.24. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $324.42 and its two-hundred day moving average is $323.84. Accenture plc has a 52-week low of $278.69 and a 52-week high of $387.51.
Accenture (NYSE:ACN – Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, June 20th. The information technology services provider reported $3.13 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.15 by ($0.02). The business had revenue of $16.47 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $16.55 billion. Accenture had a net margin of 10.79% and a return on equity of 27.48%. Accenture’s quarterly revenue was down .6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $3.19 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Accenture plc will post 11.95 EPS for the current year.
Accenture Announces Dividend
The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, July 11th were issued a dividend of $1.29 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, July 11th. This represents a $5.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.51%. Accenture’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 47.25%.
Insider Activity at Accenture
In related news, insider Ellyn Shook sold 5,000 shares of Accenture stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the insider now directly owns 8,989 shares in the company, valued at $2,964,751.98. The sale was disclosed in a document filed 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 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 transaction, the insider now owns 8,989 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,964,751.98. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Julie Spellman Sweet sold 3,776 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $309.05, for a total transaction of $1,166,972.80. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 11,819 shares in the company, valued at $3,652,661.95. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 21,421 shares of company stock worth $6,912,635 in the last three months. 0.07% of the stock is owned by company insiders.
About Accenture
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.
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