Beacon Investment Advisory Services Inc. Purchases 12,872 Shares of Accenture PLC (NYSE:ACN)

Beacon Investment Advisory Services Inc. raised its stake in shares of Accenture PLC (NYSE:ACN - Free Report) by 524.3% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 15,327 shares of the information technology services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 12,872 shares during the quarter. Beacon Investment Advisory Services Inc.'s holdings in Accenture were worth $4,783,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Accenture during the 4th quarter worth approximately $2,351,683,000. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its position in shares of Accenture by 30,256.8% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 3,421,519 shares of the information technology services provider's stock valued at $1,067,651,000 after purchasing an additional 3,410,248 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its position in Accenture by 22.8% in the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 12,175,518 shares of the information technology services provider's stock worth $4,283,225,000 after acquiring an additional 2,260,740 shares during the period. Capital Research Global Investors grew its position in Accenture by 16.8% in 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. Finally, Northern Trust Corp lifted its stake in Accenture by 10.7% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 7,582,344 shares of the information technology services provider's stock worth $2,667,393,000 after purchasing an additional 732,769 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.14% of the company's stock.

Accenture Trading Down 0.3%

NYSE:ACN traded down $0.84 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $286.12. 2,953,354 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,914,624. The company's 50 day moving average is $304.11 and its two-hundred day moving average is $323.36. Accenture PLC has a twelve month low of $273.19 and a twelve 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 capitalization of $179.20 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.78, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.72 and a beta of 1.29.

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

Accenture Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, July 10th will be given a $1.48 dividend. This represents a $5.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.07%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, July 10th. Accenture's payout ratio is presently 47.13%.

Insider Transactions at Accenture

In related news, COO John F. Walsh sold 2,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $325.00, for a total value of $812,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer directly 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 transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 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. This trade represents a 3.72% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 5,454 shares of company stock worth $1,646,780. Insiders own 0.02% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have issued reports on ACN shares. Guggenheim dropped their price objective on Accenture from $360.00 to $335.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, June 23rd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft initiated coverage on shares of Accenture in a research note on Thursday, July 17th. They set a "hold" rating and a $290.00 price target on the stock. Evercore ISI started coverage on Accenture in a report on Thursday, July 17th. They set an "outperform" rating and a $330.00 price objective on the stock. BMO Capital Markets reduced their target price on Accenture from $355.00 to $325.00 and set a "market perform" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, June 23rd. Finally, Mizuho set a $348.00 target price on Accenture and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Tuesday, June 24th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $365.43.

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.