Congress Asset Management Co. Has $20.83 Million Stake in Accenture plc (NYSE:ACN)

Congress Asset Management Co. decreased its holdings in Accenture plc (NYSE:ACN - Free Report) by 2.3% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 66,744 shares of the information technology services provider's stock after selling 1,552 shares during the quarter. Congress Asset Management Co.'s holdings in Accenture were worth $20,827,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Accenture by 0.7% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 60,394,657 shares of the information technology services provider's stock worth $21,246,236,000 after acquiring an additional 392,183 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Accenture by 1.0% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 13,528,348 shares of the information technology services provider's stock valued at $4,750,021,000 after purchasing an additional 136,665 shares during the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors increased its holdings 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 valued at $4,325,526,000 after purchasing an additional 1,770,024 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its holdings 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 valued at $4,283,225,000 after purchasing an additional 2,260,740 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Capital International Investors increased its holdings in Accenture by 2.2% in the fourth quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 8,513,140 shares of the information technology services provider's stock valued at $2,994,922,000 after purchasing an additional 181,449 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 75.14% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Julie Spellman Sweet sold 2,284 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Friday, April 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $281.63, for a total transaction of $643,242.92. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 9,965 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,806,442.95. This trade represents a 18.65% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, COO John F. Walsh sold 2,500 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $325.00, for a total transaction of $812,500.00. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 15,882 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $5,161,650. This represents a 13.60% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 8,516 shares of company stock valued at $2,507,366 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.02% of the company's stock.

Accenture Stock Up 0.7%

NYSE ACN traded up $2.11 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $317.49. 2,308,334 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,970,076. The business's 50-day moving average is $303.15 and its 200-day moving average is $337.11. Accenture plc has a twelve month low of $275.01 and a twelve month high of $398.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17, a quick ratio of 1.47 and a current ratio of 1.47. The stock has a market capitalization of $198.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.64, a P/E/G ratio of 3.23 and a beta of 1.33.

Accenture (NYSE:ACN - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 20th. The information technology services provider reported $2.82 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.81 by $0.01. Accenture had a net margin of 11.41% and a return on equity of 26.91%. The company had revenue of $16.70 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $16.64 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $2.77 EPS. The company's quarterly revenue was up 5.7% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Accenture plc will post 12.73 earnings per share for the current year.

Accenture Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 10th were given a $1.48 dividend. This represents a $5.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.86%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, April 10th. Accenture's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 48.89%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently commented on ACN. BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on Accenture to $355.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a report on Wednesday, March 26th. Wall Street Zen cut Accenture from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 11th. Mizuho decreased their target price on Accenture from $428.00 to $398.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, March 19th. Guggenheim decreased their target price on Accenture from $400.00 to $395.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, March 21st. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada decreased their target price on Accenture from $399.00 to $392.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, March 21st. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $382.14.

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.