Cincinnati Financial Corp Sells 7,000 Shares of Accenture PLC (NYSE:ACN)

Key Points

• Cincinnati Financial Corp has reduced its stake in Accenture PLC by 2.0%, now holding 338,000 shares, amounting to approximately $105.47 million.
• Accenture's stock recently fell by 1.7% to $274.07, while the company's market cap stands at $171.66 billion and the PE ratio is 21.82.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $1.48 per share, reflecting a 2.16% yield and a payout ratio of 47.13%.

Cincinnati Financial Corp lowered its position in shares of Accenture PLC (NYSE:ACN - Free Report) by 2.0% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 338,000 shares of the information technology services provider's stock after selling 7,000 shares during the period. Accenture comprises about 2.4% of Cincinnati Financial Corp's holdings, making the stock its 18th largest holding. Cincinnati Financial Corp owned approximately 0.05% of Accenture worth $105,470,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Mpwm Advisory Solutions LLC bought a new stake in Accenture during the 4th quarter valued at $30,000. Park Square Financial Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Accenture during the fourth quarter valued at about $31,000. Inlight Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Accenture during the first quarter worth about $32,000. Capital A Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Accenture during the fourth quarter worth about $34,000. Finally, Navigoe LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Accenture during the fourth quarter worth about $37,000. Institutional investors own 75.14% of the company's stock.

Accenture Stock Down 1.7%

NYSE:ACN traded down $4.83 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $274.07. 4,270,498 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,295,311. The company has a market cap of $171.66 billion, a PE ratio of 21.82, a P/E/G ratio of 2.64 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. Accenture PLC has a one year low of $272.39 and a one year high of $398.35. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $300.06 and a 200 day moving average price of $320.74.

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

Accenture Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced 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 2.16%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, July 10th. Accenture's dividend payout ratio is currently 47.13%.

Insider Transactions at Accenture

In other Accenture news, insider Angela Beatty sold 203 shares of Accenture stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $282.34, for a total transaction 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 ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Mauro Macchi sold 500 shares of Accenture stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 represents a 17.97% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 5,454 shares of company stock valued at $1,646,780. 0.02% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Benchmark reiterated a "mixed" rating on shares of Accenture in a report on Friday, June 20th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of Accenture from $349.00 to $353.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday, June 16th. Evercore ISI assumed coverage on shares of Accenture in a report on Thursday, July 17th. They set an "outperform" rating and a $330.00 target price for the company. HSBC started coverage on shares of Accenture in a report on Monday. They set a "reduce" rating and a $240.00 target price for the company. Finally, BMO Capital Markets cut their target price on shares of Accenture from $355.00 to $325.00 and set a "market perform" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, June 23rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating, fifteen have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company 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.