Goldman Sachs Group Inc. Has $2.11 Billion Holdings in Accenture PLC (NYSE:ACN)

Key Points

• Goldman Sachs Group Inc. increased its stake in Accenture PLC by 3.5%, now holding approximately $2.11 billion worth of shares as of the end of the most recent quarter.
• Accenture reported earnings of $3.49 per share for the quarter, surpassing analysts' expectations, with revenue amounting to $17.73 billion, a 7.7% increase year-over-year.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $1.48 per share, representing a dividend yield of 2.4%, scheduled for payment on August 15th.

Goldman Sachs Group Inc. increased its holdings in Accenture PLC (NYSE:ACN - Free Report) by 3.5% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 6,766,369 shares of the information technology services provider's stock after buying an additional 228,939 shares during the period. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. owned 1.08% of Accenture worth $2,111,378,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Visionary Wealth Advisors raised its position in Accenture by 3.5% during the fourth quarter. Visionary Wealth Advisors now owns 778 shares of the information technology services provider's stock valued at $274,000 after purchasing an additional 26 shares in the last quarter. Vivaldi Capital Management LP grew its stake in shares of Accenture by 3.6% during the fourth quarter. Vivaldi Capital Management LP now owns 782 shares of the information technology services provider's stock worth $292,000 after buying an additional 27 shares during the last quarter. Tradition Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Accenture by 0.3% during the fourth quarter. Tradition Wealth Management LLC now owns 10,981 shares of the information technology services provider's stock worth $3,863,000 after buying an additional 30 shares during the last quarter. Sentinus LLC grew its stake in shares of Accenture by 4.2% during the fourth quarter. Sentinus LLC now owns 763 shares of the information technology services provider's stock worth $268,000 after buying an additional 31 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Stonebrook Private Inc. grew its stake in shares of Accenture by 3.1% during the fourth quarter. Stonebrook Private Inc. now owns 1,103 shares of the information technology services provider's stock worth $388,000 after buying an additional 33 shares during the last quarter. 75.14% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Accenture Trading Down 1.1%

ACN traded down $2.65 during trading on Friday, reaching $239.07. 3,810,701 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 4,579,456. 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 capitalization of $149.74 billion, a PE ratio of 19.03, a P/E/G ratio of 2.20 and a beta of 1.29. The stock's 50-day moving average is $292.71 and its 200 day moving average is $316.70. Accenture PLC has a 12 month low of $238.03 and a 12 month high of $398.35.

Accenture (NYSE:ACN - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, June 20th. The information technology services provider reported $3.49 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 business had revenue of $17.73 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $17.26 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $3.13 earnings per share. The business's quarterly revenue was up 7.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts anticipate that Accenture PLC will post 12.73 earnings per share for the current year.

Accenture Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, July 10th will be issued 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 2.5%. Accenture's dividend payout ratio is currently 47.13%.

Insider Activity at Accenture

In other news, insider Angela Beatty sold 203 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $282.34, for a total transaction of $57,315.02. Following the transaction, the insider owned 5,249 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,482,002.66. This represents a 3.72% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Mauro Macchi sold 500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $282.34, for a total transaction of $141,170.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 2,283 shares in the company, valued at $644,582.22. This represents a 17.97% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 5,454 shares of company stock worth $1,646,780 over the last three months. 0.02% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have weighed in on ACN shares. UBS Group reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $395.00 target price (up previously from $390.00) on shares of Accenture in a research note on Thursday, May 22nd. Hsbc Global Res raised shares of Accenture to a "moderate sell" rating in a research note on Monday, July 28th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of Accenture from $349.00 to $353.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, June 16th. HSBC assumed coverage on shares of Accenture in a research note on Monday, July 28th. They set a "reduce" rating and a $240.00 target price on the stock. Finally, BMO Capital Markets reduced their price objective on shares of Accenture from $355.00 to $325.00 and set a "market perform" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, June 23rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating, fifteen have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $360.21.

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.