Accenture PLC $ACN Holdings Reduced by ZWJ Investment Counsel Inc.

Key Points

• ZWJ Investment Counsel Inc. trimmed its Accenture stake by 9.7% in Q4, selling 11,501 shares and leaving 106,794 shares valued at about $28.65 million.
• Corporate insiders — including the CEO and COO — have been net sellers, disposing of a total of 15,331 shares worth $4,048,871 in the last 90 days, with insiders now holding just 0.02% of the company.
• Wall Street maintains a generally positive view: Accenture has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" with a $274.50 price target, recently reported Q4 EPS and revenue beats, and declared a $1.63 quarterly dividend (3.4% yield).

ZWJ Investment Counsel Inc. trimmed its holdings in Accenture PLC (NYSE:ACN - Free Report) by 9.7% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 106,794 shares of the information technology services provider's stock after selling 11,501 shares during the quarter. ZWJ Investment Counsel Inc.'s holdings in Accenture were worth $28,653,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Tyche Wealth Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of Accenture by 35.1% in the fourth quarter. Tyche Wealth Partners LLC now owns 4,234 shares of the information technology services provider's stock worth $1,136,000 after purchasing an additional 1,101 shares in the last quarter. Patton Fund Management Inc. bought a new position in Accenture in the 4th quarter valued at about $218,000. Westbourne Investment Advisors Inc. grew its position in Accenture by 5.6% in the 4th quarter. Westbourne Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 23,297 shares of the information technology services provider's stock valued at $6,251,000 after buying an additional 1,234 shares in the last quarter. Patten Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Accenture by 24.7% in the fourth quarter. Patten Group Inc. now owns 1,865 shares of the information technology services provider's stock valued at $500,000 after acquiring an additional 369 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Steph & Co. boosted its holdings in shares of Accenture by 107.5% in the fourth quarter. Steph & Co. now owns 110 shares of the information technology services provider's stock valued at $30,000 after acquiring an additional 57 shares in the last quarter. 75.14% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have issued reports on ACN. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on Accenture from $251.00 to $275.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 14th. BMO Capital Markets decreased their price target on Accenture from $300.00 to $230.00 and set a "market perform" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, March 20th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on Accenture from $243.00 to $247.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, March 20th. Truist Financial decreased their target price on Accenture from $317.00 to $260.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, March 10th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $330.00 target price on shares of Accenture in a research note on Thursday, December 18th. Eighteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and ten have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Accenture currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $274.50.

Insider Buying and Selling at Accenture

In other Accenture news, COO Catherine Kiernan Hogan sold 660 shares of Accenture stock in a transaction on Monday, January 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $280.93, for a total transaction of $185,413.80. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer owned 12,688 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,564,439.84. This trade represents a 4.94% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO John F. Walsh sold 3,986 shares of Accenture stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $276.38, for a total transaction of $1,101,650.68. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 27,221 shares of the company's stock, valued at $7,523,339.98. This trade represents a 12.77% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold a total of 15,331 shares of company stock valued at $4,048,871 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.02% of the company's stock.

Accenture Stock Performance

Shares of Accenture stock opened at $190.37 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $126.68 billion, a PE ratio of 15.59, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.82 and a beta of 1.24. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $206.79 and a 200-day simple moving average of $240.89. The company has a quick ratio of 1.34, a current ratio of 1.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. Accenture PLC has a 12 month low of $177.50 and a 12 month high of $325.71.

Accenture (NYSE:ACN - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, March 20th. The information technology services provider reported $2.93 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.84 by $0.09. Accenture had a return on equity of 26.33% and a net margin of 10.61%.The firm had revenue of $18.04 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $17.80 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $2.82 EPS. The business's quarterly revenue was up 7.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Accenture PLC will post 12.73 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Accenture Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, April 9th will be issued a dividend of $1.63 per share. This represents a $6.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.4%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 9th. Accenture's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 53.40%.

About Accenture

Accenture is a global professional services company that provides a broad range of services and solutions in strategy, consulting, digital, technology and operations. The firm works with organizations across industries to design and implement business transformation programs, deploy and manage enterprise technology, optimize operations, and develop customer and digital experiences. Its offerings encompass management and technology consulting, systems integration, application and infrastructure services, cloud migration and managed services, as well as security and analytics capabilities.

The company delivers industry- and function-specific solutions, combining consulting expertise with proprietary tools, platforms and partnerships with major technology vendors.

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