Generali Investments CEE investicni spolecnost a.s. Takes $3.78 Million Position in Accenture PLC (NYSE:ACN)

Generali Investments CEE investicni spolecnost a.s. bought a new position in Accenture PLC (NYSE:ACN - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 12,127 shares of the information technology services provider's stock, valued at approximately $3,784,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in ACN. Brighton Jones LLC boosted its stake in Accenture by 36.2% in the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 18,438 shares of the information technology services provider's stock worth $6,486,000 after purchasing an additional 4,905 shares during the period. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. bought a new stake in Accenture during the 4th quarter worth about $99,000. Proficio Capital Partners LLC lifted its position in Accenture by 47.6% during the 4th quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 2,446 shares of the information technology services provider's stock worth $861,000 after buying an additional 789 shares in the last quarter. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. lifted its position in Accenture by 12.6% during the 4th quarter. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. now owns 10,367 shares of the information technology services provider's stock worth $3,647,000 after buying an additional 1,163 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Promus Capital LLC bought a new stake in Accenture during the 4th quarter worth about $34,000. 75.14% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Accenture Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:ACN traded up $2.29 on Friday, reaching $304.58. 1,616,133 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,901,159. The company has a fifty day moving average of $309.55 and a 200-day moving average of $329.68. Accenture PLC has a twelve month low of $273.19 and a twelve month high of $398.35. The company has a market capitalization of $190.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.25, a PEG ratio of 2.86 and a beta of 1.29. The company has a current ratio of 1.46, a quick ratio of 1.46 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16.

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

Accenture Dividend Announcement

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 dividend of $1.48 per share. 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 47.13%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have commented on ACN shares. Benchmark reissued a "mixed" rating on shares of Accenture in a research report on Friday, June 20th. Baird R W raised shares of Accenture from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Monday, March 17th. Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on shares of Accenture from $340.00 to $325.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, June 24th. Mizuho set a $348.00 price target on shares of Accenture and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 24th. Finally, UBS Group reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $395.00 price target (up previously from $390.00) on shares of Accenture in a research note on Thursday, May 22nd. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Accenture presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $370.71.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Angela Beatty sold 169 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction 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 completion of the transaction, the insider owned 5,364 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,512,111.60. This trade represents a 3.05% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Julie Spellman Sweet sold 2,284 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Friday, April 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $281.63, for a total transaction of $643,242.92. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 9,965 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,806,442.95. The trade was a 18.65% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 8,516 shares of company stock worth $2,507,366. Insiders own 0.02% of the company's stock.

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.