Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. Boosts Stock Holdings in Accenture PLC (NYSE:ACN)

Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Accenture PLC (NYSE:ACN - Free Report) by 22.4% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 44,835 shares of the information technology services provider's stock after buying an additional 8,204 shares during the period. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc.'s holdings in Accenture were worth $13,990,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Mpwm Advisory Solutions LLC purchased a new stake in Accenture during the fourth quarter valued at about $30,000. Park Square Financial Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Accenture during the fourth quarter worth about $31,000. Capital A Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Accenture during the fourth quarter worth about $34,000. Mountain Hill Investment Partners Corp. purchased a new stake in shares of Accenture during the fourth quarter worth about $35,000. Finally, Inlight Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Accenture during the first quarter worth about $32,000. 75.14% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Accenture Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE ACN opened at $304.58 on Monday. Accenture PLC has a 52-week low of $273.19 and a 52-week high of $398.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a quick ratio of 1.46 and a current ratio of 1.46. The firm's fifty day moving average is $309.55 and its two-hundred day moving average is $329.26. The company has a market cap of $190.76 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.25, a P/E/G ratio of 2.86 and a beta of 1.29.

Accenture (NYSE:ACN - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, June 20th. The information technology services provider reported $3.49 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $3.32 by $0.17. Accenture had a net margin of 11.61% and a return on equity of 26.55%. The firm had revenue of $17.73 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $17.26 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $3.13 EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 7.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts anticipate that Accenture PLC will post 12.73 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Accenture Dividend Announcement

The firm 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 $1.48 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, July 10th. This represents a $5.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.94%. Accenture's dividend payout ratio is currently 47.13%.

Insider Activity

In related news, COO John F. Walsh sold 2,500 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $325.00, for a total transaction of $812,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer owned 15,882 shares in the company, valued at $5,161,650. The trade was a 13.60% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, insider Angela Beatty sold 169 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, April 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $281.90, for a total transaction of $47,641.10. Following the transaction, the insider owned 5,364 shares in the company, valued at $1,512,111.60. The trade was a 3.05% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 8,516 shares of company stock worth $2,507,366. Insiders own 0.02% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

ACN has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. 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. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on shares of Accenture from $340.00 to $325.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, June 24th. UBS Group reiterated a "buy" rating and set a $395.00 price target (up previously from $390.00) on shares of Accenture in a report on Thursday, May 22nd. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Accenture from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Tuesday, March 11th. Finally, Mizuho set a $348.00 target price on shares of Accenture and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Tuesday, June 24th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $370.71.

Accenture Company 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.

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