Accenture plc (NYSE:ACN) is Williams Jones Wealth Management LLC.'s 8th Largest Position

Williams Jones Wealth Management LLC. lessened its holdings in Accenture plc (NYSE:ACN - Free Report) by 2.4% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 592,535 shares of the information technology services provider's stock after selling 14,471 shares during the quarter. Accenture makes up about 2.5% of Williams Jones Wealth Management LLC.'s holdings, making the stock its 8th largest position. Williams Jones Wealth Management LLC. owned 0.09% of Accenture worth $208,448,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of ACN. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Accenture during the fourth quarter worth about $2,351,683,000. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its position in shares of Accenture by 22.8% in the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 12,175,518 shares of the information technology services provider's stock valued at $4,283,225,000 after purchasing an additional 2,260,740 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in Accenture during the 4th quarter worth approximately $666,495,000. Capital Research Global Investors increased its position in Accenture by 16.8% during the fourth 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 during the period. Finally, Swedbank AB lifted its stake 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 valued at $1,324,029,000 after buying an additional 1,212,011 shares during the last quarter. 75.14% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Accenture Stock Performance

Shares of ACN opened at $319.16 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $199.90 billion, a PE ratio of 26.78, a P/E/G ratio of 3.23 and a beta of 1.35. Accenture plc has a 52-week low of $275.01 and a 52-week high of $398.35. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $302.50 and a 200-day simple moving average of $340.97. 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 issued its earnings results on Thursday, March 20th. The information technology services provider reported $2.82 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.81 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $16.70 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $16.64 billion. Accenture had a net margin of 11.41% and a return on equity of 26.91%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 5.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $2.77 earnings per share. Equities research analysts predict that Accenture plc will post 12.73 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Accenture Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 10th were given a $1.48 dividend. This represents a $5.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.85%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, April 10th. Accenture's dividend payout ratio is currently 48.89%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. Piper Sandler cut their target price on shares of Accenture from $364.00 to $355.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 16th. Barclays reduced their target price on shares of Accenture from $415.00 to $390.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Monday, March 24th. Mizuho lowered their price target on Accenture from $428.00 to $398.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, March 19th. UBS Group reduced their price objective on Accenture from $455.00 to $387.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, March 21st. Finally, Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on Accenture from $380.00 to $372.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, March 17th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $381.76.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Julie Spellman Sweet sold 2,284 shares of Accenture stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, April 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $281.63, for a total transaction of $643,242.92. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 9,965 shares in the company, valued at $2,806,442.95. The trade was a 18.65% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, General Counsel Joel Unruch sold 3,563 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Friday, April 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $281.78, for a total value of $1,003,982.14. Following the transaction, the general counsel now directly owns 17,237 shares of the company's stock, valued at $4,857,041.86. The trade was a 17.13% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 8,516 shares of company stock worth $2,507,366 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.02% of the company's stock.

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.

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