71,200 Shares in Accenture plc (NYSE:ACN) Acquired by Point72 Europe London LLP

Point72 Europe London LLP purchased a new position in Accenture plc (NYSE:ACN - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm purchased 71,200 shares of the information technology services provider's stock, valued at approximately $25,047,000. Accenture comprises approximately 1.4% of Point72 Europe London LLP's holdings, making the stock its 21st largest position.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in ACN. Point72 Hong Kong Ltd purchased a new stake in Accenture during the 4th quarter valued at about $8,430,000. Prana Capital Management LP purchased a new stake in Accenture in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $36,116,000. ProShare Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Accenture by 6.4% in the 4th quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 145,395 shares of the information technology services provider's stock worth $51,149,000 after buying an additional 8,703 shares during the period. Quantinno Capital Management LP raised its position in Accenture by 28.5% during the 4th quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP now owns 133,264 shares of the information technology services provider's stock worth $46,881,000 after buying an additional 29,563 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mufg Securities Americas Inc. acquired a new stake in Accenture during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $3,245,000. 75.14% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Accenture Stock Down 0.5%

NYSE ACN opened at $321.04 on Thursday. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $303.05 and a 200 day moving average price of $341.80. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17, a quick ratio of 1.47 and a current ratio of 1.47. The company has a market cap of $201.08 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.93, a P/E/G ratio of 3.23 and a beta of 1.35. Accenture plc has a one year low of $275.01 and a one year high of $398.35.

Accenture (NYSE:ACN - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, March 20th. The information technology services provider reported $2.82 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.81 by $0.01. Accenture had a net margin of 11.41% and a return on equity of 26.91%. The business had revenue of $16.70 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $16.64 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $2.77 earnings per share. The company's quarterly revenue was up 5.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts anticipate that Accenture plc will post 12.73 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Accenture Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, April 10th will be issued a $1.48 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 10th. This represents a $5.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.84%. Accenture's dividend payout ratio is presently 48.89%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Baird R W raised shares of Accenture from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Monday, March 17th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on Accenture to $355.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a report on Wednesday, March 26th. Barclays dropped their target price on Accenture from $415.00 to $390.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, March 24th. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price target on Accenture from $390.00 to $380.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 26th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group lowered their price objective on Accenture from $385.00 to $355.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Accenture currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $377.82.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Accenture news, COO John F. Walsh sold 2,500 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $325.00, for a total transaction of $812,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 15,882 shares of the company's stock, valued at $5,161,650. This trade represents a 13.60% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Julie Spellman Sweet sold 2,284 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, April 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $281.63, for a total value of $643,242.92. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 9,965 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,806,442.95. This represents a 18.65% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 8,516 shares of company stock worth $2,507,366. 0.02% of the stock is owned by corporate 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.

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