Accenture PLC (NYSE:ACN) Shares Purchased by Avantax Advisory Services Inc.

Key Points

• Avantax Advisory Services Inc. increased its stake in Accenture PLC by 4.7% in Q1, holding a total of 60,162 shares valued at $18.77 million.
• Accenture recently announced a quarterly dividend of $1.48 per share, resulting in an annualized yield of 2.09% and a payout ratio of 47.13%.
• Wall Street analysts have a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" for Accenture stock, with an average price target of $365.43 and several analysts raising their price targets in recent reports.

Avantax Advisory Services Inc. raised its holdings in Accenture PLC (NYSE:ACN - Free Report) by 4.7% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 60,162 shares of the information technology services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 2,727 shares during the period. Avantax Advisory Services Inc.'s holdings in Accenture were worth $18,773,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in ACN. Mpwm Advisory Solutions LLC acquired a new position in Accenture in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Park Square Financial Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Accenture during the fourth quarter worth approximately $31,000. Capital A Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Accenture during the fourth quarter worth approximately $34,000. Inlight Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Accenture during the first quarter worth approximately $32,000. Finally, Navigoe LLC purchased a new stake in Accenture in the 4th quarter valued at $37,000. 75.14% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Accenture Price Performance

Shares of NYSE ACN traded up $0.46 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $277.50. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,139,572 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,350,765. The firm has a market capitalization of $173.81 billion, a PE ratio of 22.10, a P/E/G ratio of 2.68 and a beta of 1.29. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 1.46 and a quick ratio of 1.46. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $301.75 and a two-hundred day moving average of $321.36. Accenture PLC has a 52 week low of $273.19 and a 52 week high of $398.35.

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

Accenture Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, July 10th will be issued a dividend of $1.48 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, July 10th. This represents a $5.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.13%. Accenture's payout ratio is currently 47.13%.

Insider Transactions at Accenture

In other Accenture news, CEO Mauro Macchi sold 500 shares of Accenture stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $282.34, for a total transaction of $141,170.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 2,283 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $644,582.22. The trade was a 17.97% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Angela Beatty sold 203 shares of Accenture stock in a transaction dated 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 owned 5,249 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,482,002.66. The trade was a 3.72% decrease in their position. 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. Company insiders own 0.02% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on the company. HSBC started coverage on Accenture in a research report on Monday. They issued a "reduce" rating and a $240.00 price target for the company. Benchmark reiterated a "mixed" rating on shares of Accenture in a research note on Friday, June 20th. Barclays cut their price target on Accenture from $390.00 to $360.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, June 23rd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft started coverage on Accenture in a research note on Thursday, July 17th. They issued a "hold" rating and a $290.00 target price for the company. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on Accenture from $349.00 to $353.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, June 16th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating, fifteen have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $360.21.

Accenture 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.