Strive Asset Management LLC Makes New Investment in Accenture plc (NYSE:ACN)

Strive Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Accenture plc (NYSE:ACN - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor acquired 1,838 shares of the information technology services provider's stock, valued at approximately $647,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of ACN. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Accenture in the 4th quarter worth about $2,351,683,000. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its holdings in Accenture by 22.8% in the fourth 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. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in Accenture in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $666,495,000. Capital Research Global Investors boosted its holdings in shares of 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 buying an additional 1,770,024 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Swedbank AB grew its holdings in Accenture by 47.5% in the fourth quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 3,763,690 shares of the information technology services provider's stock worth $1,324,029,000 after purchasing an additional 1,212,011 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 75.14% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Accenture

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

Accenture Price Performance

Shares of NYSE ACN traded down $5.69 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $310.76. 1,299,728 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,987,237. Accenture plc has a 52-week low of $275.01 and a 52-week high of $398.35. The company has a market capitalization of $194.64 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.05, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.23 and a beta of 1.35. The company's 50-day simple moving average is $302.36 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $340.47. The company has a quick ratio of 1.47, a current ratio of 1.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17.

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

Accenture Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 10th were given a $1.48 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, April 10th. This represents a $5.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.90%. Accenture's dividend payout ratio is currently 48.89%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on ACN shares. Baird R W upgraded Accenture from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Monday, March 17th. UBS Group reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $395.00 price target (up from $390.00) on shares of Accenture in a research report on Thursday. Piper Sandler dropped their target price on shares of Accenture from $364.00 to $355.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 16th. Mizuho cut their price target on Accenture from $428.00 to $398.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, March 19th. Finally, Guggenheim lowered their target price on shares of Accenture from $400.00 to $395.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, March 21st. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Accenture presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $382.14.

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.