Accenture PLC (NYSE:ACN) Stock Position Decreased by Benjamin Edwards Inc.

Key Points

• Benjamin Edwards Inc. reduced its stake in Accenture PLC by 1.7%, resulting in holdings worth approximately $47.77 million after selling 2,698 shares in the first quarter.
• Accenture's recent quarterly earnings report showed an increase in revenue to $17.73 billion, exceeding analyst expectations, along with an earnings per share of $3.49.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $1.48 per share, translating to an annualized yield of 2.5% and a payout ratio of 47.13%.

Benjamin Edwards Inc. decreased its holdings in shares of Accenture PLC (NYSE:ACN - Free Report) by 1.7% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 153,097 shares of the information technology services provider's stock after selling 2,698 shares during the period. Benjamin Edwards Inc.'s holdings in Accenture were worth $47,773,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of ACN. Lcnb Corp increased its holdings in shares of Accenture by 22.1% in the 1st quarter. Lcnb Corp now owns 4,807 shares of the information technology services provider's stock valued at $1,500,000 after purchasing an additional 870 shares during the period. Zions Bancorporation National Association UT acquired a new stake in shares of Accenture in the first quarter valued at $6,159,000. Founders Financial Alliance LLC increased its position in Accenture by 57.7% in the first quarter. Founders Financial Alliance LLC now owns 1,569 shares of the information technology services provider's stock worth $490,000 after purchasing an additional 574 shares during the period. Nicholson Wealth Management Group LLC grew its position in shares of Accenture by 1.3% during the 1st quarter. Nicholson Wealth Management Group LLC now owns 4,284 shares of the information technology services provider's stock worth $1,337,000 after buying an additional 53 shares during the period. Finally, Savvy Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Accenture by 17.3% during the 1st quarter. Savvy Advisors Inc. now owns 3,658 shares of the information technology services provider's stock valued at $1,141,000 after purchasing an additional 539 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.14% of the company's stock.

Insider Transactions at Accenture

In other Accenture news, insider Angela Beatty sold 203 shares of Accenture stock in a transaction on Friday, July 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $282.34, for a total value of $57,315.02. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly 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 sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Mauro Macchi sold 500 shares of the firm's 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 transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 2,283 shares in the company, valued at $644,582.22. This trade represents a 17.97% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 5,454 shares of company stock valued at $1,646,780 over the last 90 days. 0.02% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages recently weighed in on ACN. Argus set a $370.00 price objective on Accenture in a research report on Tuesday, June 24th. UBS Group reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $395.00 target price (up previously from $390.00) on shares of Accenture in a research report on Thursday, May 22nd. Evercore ISI assumed coverage on Accenture in a report on Thursday, July 17th. They issued an "outperform" rating and a $330.00 target price on the stock. BMO Capital Markets dropped their price target on Accenture from $355.00 to $325.00 and set a "market perform" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, June 23rd. Finally, Hsbc Global Res raised shares of Accenture to a "moderate sell" rating in a research note on Monday, July 28th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating, fifteen have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $360.21.

Accenture Stock Down 0.3%

Shares of NYSE ACN traded down $0.72 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $238.48. The company had a trading volume of 4,674,508 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,516,160. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $291.16 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $315.27. The company has a current ratio of 1.46, a quick ratio of 1.46 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. The company has a market capitalization of $149.37 billion, a PE ratio of 18.99, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.18 and a beta of 1.29. Accenture PLC has a one year low of $236.96 and a one year high of $398.35.

Accenture (NYSE:ACN - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, June 20th. The information technology services provider reported $3.49 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 company had revenue of $17.73 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $17.26 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $3.13 earnings per share. Accenture's revenue for the quarter was up 7.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts expect that Accenture PLC will post 12.73 EPS for the current 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 issued a dividend of $1.48 per share. This represents a $5.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, July 10th. Accenture's dividend payout ratio is presently 47.13%.

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.