Arkadios Wealth Advisors Raises Stock Position in Accenture PLC (NYSE:ACN)

Key Points

• Arkadios Wealth Advisors increased its holdings in Accenture PLC by 42.1%, acquiring 1,832 more shares for a total worth of $1,930,000 as of the latest SEC filing.
• Accenture reported earnings of $3.49 per share for the quarter, exceeding the consensus estimate by $0.17, and generated revenues of $17.73 billion, a 7.7% increase year-over-year.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $1.48 per share, with an annualized dividend yield of 2.2% and a payout ratio of 47.13%.

Arkadios Wealth Advisors increased its holdings in shares of Accenture PLC (NYSE:ACN - Free Report) by 42.1% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 6,186 shares of the information technology services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 1,832 shares during the period. Arkadios Wealth Advisors' holdings in Accenture were worth $1,930,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in ACN. Brighton Jones LLC grew its position in shares of Accenture by 36.2% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 18,438 shares of the information technology services provider's stock valued at $6,486,000 after purchasing an additional 4,905 shares during the period. Disciplined Investors L.L.C. purchased a new position in Accenture during the fourth quarter worth about $263,000. Biltmore Family Office LLC raised its stake in shares of Accenture by 14.3% in the 4th quarter. Biltmore Family Office LLC now owns 695 shares of the information technology services provider's stock valued at $244,000 after acquiring an additional 87 shares during the period. Nicolet Advisory Services LLC raised its stake in shares of Accenture by 20.3% in the 4th quarter. Nicolet Advisory Services LLC now owns 2,481 shares of the information technology services provider's stock valued at $868,000 after acquiring an additional 418 shares during the period. Finally, Westpac Banking Corp raised its stake in shares of Accenture by 8.0% in the 4th quarter. Westpac Banking Corp now owns 1,827 shares of the information technology services provider's stock valued at $643,000 after acquiring an additional 136 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.14% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Julie Spellman Sweet sold 2,251 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 11th. The shares were 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 owned 8,109 shares in the company, valued at $2,290,387.05. This represents a 21.73% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Mauro Macchi sold 500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $282.34, for a total transaction of $141,170.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 2,283 shares of the company's stock, valued at $644,582.22. This represents a 17.97% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 5,454 shares of company stock worth $1,646,780 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.02% of the company's stock.

Accenture Trading Down 2.6%

NYSE ACN opened at $266.93 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $167.18 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.25, a PEG ratio of 2.59 and a beta of 1.29. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $299.07 and its 200-day simple moving average is $320.18. 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 PLC has a 52 week low of $266.13 and a 52 week high of $398.35.

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 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 analyst estimates of $17.26 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $3.13 earnings per share. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 7.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts predict 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. Stockholders of record on Thursday, July 10th will be given a dividend of $1.48 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, July 10th. This represents a $5.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.2%. Accenture's dividend payout ratio is currently 47.13%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages recently weighed in on ACN. Barclays cut their target price on shares of Accenture from $390.00 to $360.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, June 23rd. UBS Group reiterated a "buy" rating and set 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. increased their price target on shares of Accenture from $349.00 to $353.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday, June 16th. Argus set a $370.00 price target on shares of Accenture in a report on Tuesday, June 24th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets dropped their target price 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 equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating, fifteen have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average 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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