Accenture PLC (NYSE:ACN) Shares Acquired by PFG Advisors

PFG Advisors increased its position in shares of Accenture PLC (NYSE:ACN - Free Report) by 28.5% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 21,005 shares of the information technology services provider's stock after buying an additional 4,658 shares during the period. PFG Advisors' holdings in Accenture were worth $6,554,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Visionary Wealth Advisors lifted its holdings in Accenture by 3.5% during the 4th quarter. Visionary Wealth Advisors now owns 778 shares of the information technology services provider's stock worth $274,000 after buying an additional 26 shares in the last quarter. Vivaldi Capital Management LP raised its position in Accenture by 3.6% in the 4th quarter. Vivaldi Capital Management LP now owns 782 shares of the information technology services provider's stock valued at $292,000 after purchasing an additional 27 shares in the last quarter. Nemes Rush Group LLC raised its position in Accenture by 7.5% in the 4th quarter. Nemes Rush Group LLC now owns 418 shares of the information technology services provider's stock valued at $147,000 after purchasing an additional 29 shares in the last quarter. Tradition Wealth Management LLC raised its position in Accenture by 0.3% in the 4th quarter. Tradition Wealth Management LLC now owns 10,981 shares of the information technology services provider's stock valued at $3,863,000 after purchasing an additional 30 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sentinus LLC raised its position in Accenture by 4.2% in the 4th quarter. Sentinus LLC now owns 763 shares of the information technology services provider's stock valued at $268,000 after purchasing an additional 31 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.14% of the company's stock.

Accenture Stock Performance

ACN stock traded down $5.34 on Thursday, hitting $280.70. The company's stock had a trading volume of 2,295,153 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,356,500. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $304.11 and a two-hundred day moving average of $323.36. Accenture PLC has a 1 year low of $273.19 and a 1 year high of $398.35. The stock has a market cap of $175.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.35, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.72 and a beta of 1.29. The company has a current ratio of 1.46, a quick ratio of 1.46 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16.

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

Accenture Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, July 10th will be given a $1.48 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, July 10th. This represents a $5.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.11%. Accenture's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 47.13%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

ACN has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. UBS Group reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $395.00 price target (up previously from $390.00) on shares of Accenture in a research note on Thursday, May 22nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of Accenture from $349.00 to $353.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, June 16th. Barclays decreased their price target on shares of Accenture from $390.00 to $360.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, June 23rd. Argus set a $370.00 price target on shares of Accenture in a research note on Tuesday, June 24th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets decreased their price target on shares of Accenture from $355.00 to $325.00 and set a "market perform" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, June 23rd. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Accenture presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $365.43.

Insider Activity

In other Accenture news, insider Angela Beatty sold 203 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Friday, July 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $282.34, for a total value of $57,315.02. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 5,249 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,482,002.66. The trade was a 3.72% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Julie Spellman Sweet sold 2,251 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Friday, July 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $282.45, for a total transaction of $635,794.95. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 8,109 shares in the company, valued at $2,290,387.05. This represents a 21.73% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 5,454 shares of company stock valued at $1,646,780. 0.02% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.