KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS Grows Holdings in Accenture PLC (NYSE:ACN)

KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS boosted its position in Accenture PLC (NYSE:ACN - Free Report) by 1.0% during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 241,006 shares of the information technology services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 2,500 shares during the quarter. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS's holdings in Accenture were worth $75,204,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in ACN. Mpwm Advisory Solutions LLC acquired a new position in shares of Accenture during the fourth quarter worth $30,000. Park Square Financial Group LLC bought a new position in Accenture during the fourth quarter worth $31,000. Capital A Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Accenture in the fourth quarter valued at $34,000. Mountain Hill Investment Partners Corp. acquired a new stake in Accenture during the 4th quarter worth about $35,000. Finally, Inlight Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Accenture in the 1st quarter worth about $32,000. 75.14% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently commented on ACN. BMO Capital Markets cut their target price on Accenture from $355.00 to $325.00 and set a "market perform" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, June 23rd. Benchmark reaffirmed a "mixed" rating on shares of Accenture in a research note on Friday, June 20th. Piper Sandler reduced their target price on Accenture from $364.00 to $355.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 16th. Evercore ISI began coverage on Accenture in a report on Thursday, July 17th. They issued an "outperform" rating and a $330.00 target price on the stock. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of Accenture from $349.00 to $353.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, June 16th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Accenture has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $365.43.

Accenture Price Performance

NYSE:ACN traded down $4.39 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $281.65. 3,950,138 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,370,153. The business's 50-day moving average price is $304.11 and its 200 day moving average price is $323.36. The company has a quick ratio of 1.46, a current ratio of 1.46 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. Accenture PLC has a 12-month low of $273.19 and a 12-month high of $398.35. The company has a market cap of $176.40 billion, a PE ratio of 22.42, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.72 and a beta of 1.29.

Accenture (NYSE:ACN - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Friday, June 20th. The information technology services provider reported $3.49 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $3.32 by $0.17. The business had revenue of $17.73 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $17.26 billion. Accenture had a return on equity of 26.55% and a net margin of 11.61%. The company's quarterly revenue was up 7.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $3.13 EPS. On average, analysts expect that Accenture PLC will post 12.73 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Accenture Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, July 10th will be given a dividend of $1.48 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, July 10th. This represents a $5.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.10%. Accenture's payout ratio is 47.13%.

Insider Transactions at Accenture

In other news, insider Angela Beatty sold 203 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $282.34, for a total transaction 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. This trade represents a 3.72% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Julie Spellman Sweet sold 2,251 shares of Accenture stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $282.45, for a total value 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 trade represents a 21.73% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 5,454 shares of company stock valued at $1,646,780 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.02% of the company's stock.

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.