Wakefield Asset Management LLLP Makes New Investment in Accenture PLC (NYSE:ACN)

Wakefield Asset Management LLLP purchased a new stake in Accenture PLC (NYSE:ACN - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm purchased 1,201 shares of the information technology services provider's stock, valued at approximately $375,000.

A number of other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Accenture during the fourth quarter worth about $2,351,683,000. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its position in Accenture by 30,256.8% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 3,421,519 shares of the information technology services provider's stock worth $1,067,651,000 after purchasing an additional 3,410,248 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its position in Accenture by 22.8% during the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 12,175,518 shares of the information technology services provider's stock worth $4,283,225,000 after purchasing an additional 2,260,740 shares in the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors increased its position in Accenture by 16.8% during the 4th quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 12,295,748 shares of the information technology services provider's stock worth $4,325,526,000 after purchasing an additional 1,770,024 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp increased its position in Accenture by 10.7% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 7,582,344 shares of the information technology services provider's stock worth $2,667,393,000 after purchasing an additional 732,769 shares in the last quarter. 75.14% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at Accenture

In other news, CEO Mauro Macchi sold 500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, July 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $282.34, for a total value of $141,170.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 2,283 shares in the company, valued at approximately $644,582.22. This represents a 17.97% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, COO John F. Walsh sold 2,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $325.00, for a total value of $812,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer owned 15,882 shares of the company's stock, valued at $5,161,650. The trade was a 13.60% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 5,454 shares of company stock worth $1,646,780 over the last three months. Company insiders own 0.02% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently commented on the company. UBS Group reiterated a "buy" rating and set a $395.00 price objective (up previously from $390.00) on shares of Accenture in a research report on Thursday, May 22nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of Accenture from $349.00 to $353.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday, June 16th. Argus set a $370.00 target price on shares of Accenture in a report on Tuesday, June 24th. Guggenheim cut their price target on shares of Accenture from $360.00 to $335.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, June 23rd. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft assumed coverage on Accenture in a report on Thursday, July 17th. They set a "hold" rating and a $290.00 price objective for the company. Eight equities 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 data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $365.43.

Accenture Stock Up 0.5%

ACN traded up $1.39 on Friday, hitting $283.10. 2,629,706 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,364,890. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a quick ratio of 1.46 and a current ratio of 1.46. The stock's fifty day moving average is $303.28 and its 200-day moving average is $322.87. The company has a market cap of $177.31 billion, a PE ratio of 22.54, a PEG ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 1.29. Accenture PLC has a 12 month low of $273.19 and a 12 month high of $398.35.

Accenture (NYSE:ACN - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, June 20th. The information technology services provider reported $3.49 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.32 by $0.17. Accenture had a return on equity of 26.55% and a net margin of 11.61%. The firm had revenue of $17.73 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $17.26 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $3.13 earnings per share. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 7.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts predict that Accenture PLC will post 12.73 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Accenture Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, July 10th will be given a $1.48 dividend. This represents a $5.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.09%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, July 10th. Accenture's payout ratio is 47.13%.

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.