Everett Harris & Co. CA Sells 2,902 Shares of Accenture PLC (NYSE:ACN)

Key Points

• Everett Harris & Co. CA reduced its stake in Accenture PLC by 0.8%, now holding approximately 372,068 shares valued at about $116.1 million, making it the firm's 15th largest position.
• Accenture reported $3.49 earnings per share for the quarter, exceeding analysts' expectations of $3.32, with revenues of $17.73 billion, marking a year-over-year increase of 7.7%.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $1.48 per share, with a dividend yield of 2.4% and a payout ratio of 47.13%, to be paid on August 15th to shareholders of record on July 10th.

Everett Harris & Co. CA lessened its holdings in Accenture PLC (NYSE:ACN - Free Report) by 0.8% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 372,068 shares of the information technology services provider's stock after selling 2,902 shares during the quarter. Accenture makes up about 1.5% of Everett Harris & Co. CA's holdings, making the stock its 15th largest position. Everett Harris & Co. CA owned 0.06% of Accenture worth $116,100,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in ACN. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Accenture by 5.7% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 63,814,234 shares of the information technology services provider's stock worth $19,912,594,000 after buying an additional 3,419,577 shares during the period. Capital Research Global Investors lifted its position 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 period. Capital International Investors lifted its position 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 period. Northern Trust Corp lifted its position in 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 purchasing an additional 732,769 shares during the period. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. lifted its position 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 purchasing an additional 228,939 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.14% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity at Accenture

In related news, CEO Julie Spellman Sweet sold 2,251 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $282.45, for a total value of $635,794.95. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 8,109 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,290,387.05. This represents a 21.73% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Angela Beatty sold 203 shares of the company's 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 completion of the sale, the insider owned 5,249 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,482,002.66. This trade represents a 3.72% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 2,954 shares of company stock worth $834,280. 0.02% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on the stock. Barclays reduced their price objective on shares of Accenture from $390.00 to $360.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, June 23rd. Mizuho set a $348.00 target price on shares of Accenture and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Tuesday, June 24th. UBS Group reaffirmed a "buy" rating and issued a $395.00 target price (up from $390.00) on shares of Accenture in a report on Thursday, May 22nd. HSBC assumed coverage on shares of Accenture in a report on Monday, July 28th. They issued a "reduce" rating and a $240.00 target price for the company. Finally, Argus set a $370.00 price objective on shares of Accenture in a research note on Tuesday, June 24th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating, fifteen have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Accenture has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $360.21.

Accenture Stock Performance

NYSE ACN traded down $1.12 on Tuesday, hitting $237.50. The stock had a trading volume of 2,998,781 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,511,447. Accenture PLC has a one year low of $236.96 and a one year high of $398.35. The company has a quick ratio of 1.46, a current ratio of 1.46 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. The stock has a market cap of $148.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.90, a P/E/G ratio of 2.18 and a beta of 1.29. The company's 50-day moving average is $289.64 and its two-hundred day moving average is $314.40.

Accenture (NYSE:ACN - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, June 20th. The information technology services provider reported $3.49 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.32 by $0.17. The business had revenue of $17.73 billion during 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 business's revenue was up 7.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $3.13 earnings per share. On average, analysts expect that Accenture PLC will post 12.73 earnings per share for the current year.

Accenture Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, July 10th will be given a $1.48 dividend. This represents a $5.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.5%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, July 10th. Accenture's dividend payout ratio is 47.13%.

Accenture 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.