Accenture PLC (NYSE:ACN) Position Decreased by Appleton Partners Inc. MA

Appleton Partners Inc. MA lowered its position in Accenture PLC (NYSE:ACN - Free Report) by 31.5% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 2,344 shares of the information technology services provider's stock after selling 1,080 shares during the period. Appleton Partners Inc. MA's holdings in Accenture were worth $732,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Capital Research Global Investors increased its position in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 1,770,024 shares during the period. Alteri Wealth LLC purchased a new position in Accenture in the fourth quarter worth $321,000. Proficio Capital Partners LLC grew its holdings in Accenture by 47.6% in the fourth quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 2,446 shares of the information technology services provider's stock worth $861,000 after purchasing an additional 789 shares during the last quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC purchased a new position in Accenture in the fourth quarter worth $317,000. Finally, Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Accenture during the fourth quarter worth $350,000. Institutional investors own 75.14% of the company's stock.

Accenture Price Performance

ACN traded down $20.72 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $285.66. 11,638,670 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,930,074. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 1.46 and a quick ratio of 1.48. The stock has a market capitalization of $178.92 billion, a PE ratio of 22.74, a P/E/G ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 1.33. The business's 50-day moving average price is $306.98 and its 200 day moving average price is $333.51. Accenture PLC has a 1-year low of $273.19 and a 1-year high of $398.35.

Accenture (NYSE:ACN - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, June 20th. The information technology services provider reported $3.49 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 business had revenue of $17.73 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $17.26 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $3.13 earnings per share. The company's revenue was up 7.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Accenture PLC will post 12.73 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Accenture Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, July 10th will be paid a dividend of $1.48 per share. This represents a $5.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.07%. Accenture's dividend payout ratio is currently 48.89%.

Insider Activity

In other Accenture news, insider Angela Beatty sold 169 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, April 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $281.90, for a total transaction of $47,641.10. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 5,364 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,512,111.60. This represents a 3.05% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Julie Spellman Sweet sold 2,284 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 9,965 shares in the company, valued at $2,806,442.95. This trade represents a 18.65% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 8,516 shares of company stock worth $2,507,366. 0.02% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ACN has been the subject of several research reports. Baird R W upgraded shares of Accenture from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Monday, March 17th. Benchmark reaffirmed a "mixed" rating on shares of Accenture in a research note on Friday. Mizuho dropped their price target on shares of Accenture from $428.00 to $398.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, March 19th. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price objective on shares of Accenture from $390.00 to $380.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 26th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada reduced their target price on shares of Accenture from $399.00 to $392.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, March 21st. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $380.00.

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.