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CCLA Investment Management Cuts Stock Holdings in Accenture PLC (NYSE:ACN)

Accenture logo with Computer and Technology background

Key Points

  • CCLA Investment Management reduced its stake in Accenture PLC by 5.1%, holding 254,010 shares valued at $79.3 million after selling 13,700 shares.
  • Accenture reported quarterly earnings of $3.49 EPS, surpassing estimates of $3.32, with a revenue of $17.73 billion during the quarter.
  • The company announced a quarterly dividend of $1.48 per share to be paid on August 15th, representing a 2.3% yield for shareholders.
  • MarketBeat previews the top five stocks to own by September 1st.

CCLA Investment Management lessened its holdings in Accenture PLC (NYSE:ACN - Free Report) by 5.1% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 254,010 shares of the information technology services provider's stock after selling 13,700 shares during the period. CCLA Investment Management's holdings in Accenture were worth $79,304,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its position in Accenture by 30,256.8% during the 1st 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 acquiring an additional 3,410,248 shares in the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors raised its position in shares of Accenture by 16.8% in the 4th 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 in the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Accenture by 2,782.1% during the 1st quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 1,445,281 shares of the information technology services provider's stock worth $450,985,000 after purchasing an additional 1,395,135 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp boosted its position 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 valued at $2,667,393,000 after purchasing an additional 732,769 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH purchased a new position in Accenture in the fourth quarter valued at about $225,217,000. 75.14% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Accenture Stock Performance

Shares of ACN stock opened at $255.18 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $159.83 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.32, a P/E/G ratio of 2.32 and a beta of 1.29. Accenture PLC has a 12-month low of $254.20 and a 12-month high of $398.35. The business's 50 day moving average is $297.98 and its two-hundred day moving average is $319.33. 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 (NYSE:ACN - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, June 20th. The information technology services provider reported $3.49 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $3.32 by $0.17. The firm had revenue of $17.73 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $17.26 billion. Accenture had a net margin of 11.61% and a return on equity of 26.55%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 7.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $3.13 EPS. Analysts expect that Accenture PLC will post 12.73 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Accenture Dividend Announcement

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 paid a dividend of $1.48 per share. This represents a $5.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.3%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, July 10th. Accenture's payout ratio is 47.13%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on ACN. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft started coverage on shares of Accenture in a report on Thursday, July 17th. They issued a "hold" rating and a $290.00 price target on the stock. Barclays lowered their target price on shares of Accenture from $390.00 to $360.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, June 23rd. UBS Group reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $395.00 price target (up from $390.00) on shares of Accenture in a research report on Thursday, May 22nd. BMO Capital Markets lowered their price objective 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, Benchmark restated a "mixed" rating on shares of Accenture in a research note on Friday, June 20th. 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 issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $360.21.

Check Out Our Latest Stock Analysis on Accenture

Insider Transactions at Accenture

In other news, 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 value of $141,170.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 2,283 shares in the company, valued at $644,582.22. This represents a 17.97% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, insider Angela Beatty sold 203 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $282.34, for a total transaction of $57,315.02. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 5,249 shares in the company, valued at $1,482,002.66. This trade represents a 3.72% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 5,454 shares of company stock valued at $1,646,780 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.02% of the company's stock.

About Accenture

(Free Report)

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.

Read More

Institutional Ownership by Quarter for Accenture (NYSE:ACN)

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest and most accurate reporting. This story was reviewed by MarketBeat's editorial team prior to publication. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.

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