Accenture PLC (NYSE:ACN) Shares Acquired by US Bancorp DE

Key Points

• US Bancorp DE increased its stake in Accenture PLC by 0.2%, bringing its ownership to over 1.1 million shares valued at approximately $345 million.
• Accenture's stock recently reported earnings of $3.49 EPS, which exceeded analysts' expectations and marked a 7.7% increase in revenue compared to the previous year.
• Accenture has announced a quarterly dividend of $1.48 per share, with a yield of 2.2% and a payout ratio of 47.13%.

US Bancorp DE grew its stake in Accenture PLC (NYSE:ACN - Free Report) by 0.2% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 1,107,120 shares of the information technology services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 2,046 shares during the quarter. US Bancorp DE owned approximately 0.18% of Accenture worth $345,468,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Brighton Jones LLC raised its stake in Accenture by 36.2% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 18,438 shares of the information technology services provider's stock worth $6,486,000 after acquiring an additional 4,905 shares during the period. Disciplined Investors L.L.C. acquired a new stake in Accenture during the fourth quarter worth about $263,000. Biltmore Family Office LLC raised its stake in Accenture by 14.3% during the fourth quarter. Biltmore Family Office LLC now owns 695 shares of the information technology services provider's stock worth $244,000 after acquiring an additional 87 shares during the period. Nicolet Advisory Services LLC raised its stake in Accenture by 20.3% during the fourth quarter. Nicolet Advisory Services LLC now owns 2,481 shares of the information technology services provider's stock worth $868,000 after acquiring an additional 418 shares during the period. Finally, Westpac Banking Corp raised its stake in Accenture by 8.0% during the fourth quarter. Westpac Banking Corp now owns 1,827 shares of the information technology services provider's stock worth $643,000 after acquiring an additional 136 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.14% of the company's stock.

Accenture Stock Down 2.6%

ACN stock opened at $266.93 on Friday. Accenture PLC has a 12-month low of $266.13 and a 12-month high of $398.35. The company has a quick ratio of 1.46, a current ratio of 1.46 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. The company has a market cap of $167.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.25, a PEG ratio of 2.59 and a beta of 1.29. The company has a 50 day moving average of $299.07 and a two-hundred day moving average of $320.18.

Accenture (NYSE:ACN - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Friday, June 20th. The information technology services provider reported $3.49 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $3.32 by $0.17. Accenture had a net margin of 11.61% and a return on equity of 26.55%. The company 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. The company's revenue was up 7.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Accenture PLC will post 12.73 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Accenture Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, July 10th will be paid a $1.48 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, July 10th. This represents a $5.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.2%. Accenture's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 47.13%.

Insider Activity

In other Accenture news, insider Angela Beatty sold 203 shares of the firm'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 sale, the insider directly owned 5,249 shares in the company, valued at $1,482,002.66. This trade represents a 3.72% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, COO John F. Walsh sold 2,500 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $325.00, for a total transaction of $812,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer owned 15,882 shares in the company, valued at $5,161,650. This represents a 13.60% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 5,454 shares of company stock valued at $1,646,780. 0.02% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have commented on ACN. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on shares of Accenture from $340.00 to $325.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, June 24th. Hsbc Global Res upgraded shares of Accenture to a "moderate sell" rating in a research report on Monday. UBS Group restated a "buy" rating and issued a $395.00 target price (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 company an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday, June 16th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets decreased their price objective on shares of Accenture from $355.00 to $325.00 and set a "market perform" rating for the company in a report on Monday, June 23rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating, fifteen have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $360.21.

About Accenture

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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