Cypress Capital Group Sells 6,718 Shares of Accenture PLC (NYSE:ACN)

Key Points

• Cypress Capital Group has reduced its holdings in Accenture PLC by 28.5%, now owning a total of 16,850 shares worth approximately $5.26 million.
• Accenture recently reported an earnings per share of $3.49 for the last quarter, surpassing analysts' expectations and showing a 7.7% increase in revenue compared to the previous year.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $1.48 per share, resulting in an annualized payout of $5.92 and a dividend yield of 2.5%.

Cypress Capital Group cut its stake in shares of Accenture PLC (NYSE:ACN - Free Report) by 28.5% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 16,850 shares of the information technology services provider's stock after selling 6,718 shares during the quarter. Cypress Capital Group's holdings in Accenture were worth $5,258,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Accenture by 5.7% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 63,814,234 shares of the information technology services provider's stock valued at $19,912,594,000 after buying an additional 3,419,577 shares during the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors raised its holdings in shares of 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 buying an additional 1,770,024 shares during the last quarter. Capital International Investors raised its holdings in shares of 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 buying an additional 181,449 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp raised its holdings in shares of Accenture by 10.7% in 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 buying an additional 732,769 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Accenture by 3.5% in the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 6,766,369 shares of the information technology services provider's stock valued at $2,111,378,000 after acquiring an additional 228,939 shares during the last quarter. 75.14% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Accenture Stock Up 3.3%

NYSE:ACN traded up $7.74 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $245.61. 5,277,841 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,578,933. Accenture PLC has a twelve month low of $236.67 and a twelve month high of $398.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 1.46 and a quick ratio of 1.46. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $286.71 and a 200 day moving average of $313.39. The stock has a market cap of $153.83 billion, a PE ratio of 19.55, a PEG ratio of 2.16 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 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $3.32 by $0.17. The firm had revenue of $17.73 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $17.26 billion. Accenture had a return on equity of 26.55% and a net margin of 11.61%. The business's revenue was up 7.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $3.13 EPS. On average, equities analysts expect that Accenture PLC will post 12.73 earnings per share for the current year.

Accenture Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, July 10th will be issued a dividend of $1.48 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, July 10th. This represents a $5.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.4%. Accenture's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 47.13%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have weighed in on the company. Piper Sandler dropped their price objective on Accenture from $364.00 to $355.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 16th. Evercore ISI assumed coverage on Accenture in a report on Thursday, July 17th. They set an "outperform" rating and a $330.00 price objective for the company. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft assumed coverage on Accenture in a research note on Thursday, July 17th. They issued a "hold" rating and a $290.00 price target for the company. Barclays lowered their price target on Accenture from $390.00 to $360.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, June 23rd. Finally, Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on Accenture from $340.00 to $325.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, June 24th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating, fifteen have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Accenture presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $360.21.

Insider Buying and Selling at Accenture

In other Accenture news, insider Angela Beatty sold 203 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction 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 sale, the insider 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 document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Mauro Macchi sold 500 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Friday, July 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $282.34, for a total value of $141,170.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 2,283 shares of the company's stock, valued at $644,582.22. This represents a 17.97% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 2,954 shares of company stock valued at $834,280 in the last quarter. 0.02% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.