Accenture PLC (NYSE:ACN) Stock Position Trimmed by Lazard Freres Gestion S.A.S.

Key Points

• Lazard Freres Gestion S.A.S. reduced its stake in Accenture PLC by 16.5% in Q1, holding 543,531 shares worth approximately $169.60 million, making Accenture its 6th largest position.
• Accenture's recent quarterly results showed earnings per share of $3.49, surpassing analysts' expectations of $3.32, with a year-over-year revenue growth of 7.7% to $17.73 billion.
• Accenture declared a quarterly dividend of $1.48 per share, reflecting an annual yield of 2.09%, with a payout ratio of 47.13%.

Lazard Freres Gestion S.A.S. trimmed its holdings in shares of Accenture PLC (NYSE:ACN - Free Report) by 16.5% during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 543,531 shares of the information technology services provider's stock after selling 107,199 shares during the period. Accenture accounts for 4.1% of Lazard Freres Gestion S.A.S.'s portfolio, making the stock its 6th biggest position. Lazard Freres Gestion S.A.S. owned approximately 0.09% of Accenture worth $169,603,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the business. Visionary Wealth Advisors boosted its position in Accenture by 3.5% during the 4th quarter. Visionary Wealth Advisors now owns 778 shares of the information technology services provider's stock worth $274,000 after acquiring an additional 26 shares during the last quarter. Vivaldi Capital Management LP boosted its position in Accenture by 3.6% during the 4th quarter. Vivaldi Capital Management LP now owns 782 shares of the information technology services provider's stock worth $292,000 after acquiring an additional 27 shares during the last quarter. Nemes Rush Group LLC boosted its position in Accenture by 7.5% during the 4th quarter. Nemes Rush Group LLC now owns 418 shares of the information technology services provider's stock worth $147,000 after acquiring an additional 29 shares during the last quarter. Tradition Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in Accenture by 0.3% during the 4th quarter. Tradition Wealth Management LLC now owns 10,981 shares of the information technology services provider's stock worth $3,863,000 after acquiring an additional 30 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sentinus LLC boosted its position in Accenture by 4.2% during the 4th quarter. Sentinus LLC now owns 763 shares of the information technology services provider's stock worth $268,000 after acquiring an additional 31 shares during the last quarter. 75.14% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have weighed in on ACN. Barclays reduced their price target on Accenture from $390.00 to $360.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, June 23rd. Benchmark reissued a "mixed" rating on shares of Accenture in a report on Friday, June 20th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft assumed coverage on Accenture in a report on Thursday, July 17th. They issued a "hold" rating and a $290.00 price objective for the company. Argus set a $370.00 price objective on Accenture in a report on Tuesday, June 24th. Finally, Guggenheim cut their price objective on Accenture from $360.00 to $335.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Monday, June 23rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating, fifteen have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Accenture currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $360.21.

Accenture Trading Down 1.5%

Shares of ACN traded down $3.99 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $270.01. 2,233,811 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,366,173. Accenture PLC has a 52 week low of $266.52 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 stock has a market capitalization of $169.11 billion, a PE ratio of 21.51, a PEG ratio of 2.64 and a beta of 1.29. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $300.06 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $320.74.

Accenture (NYSE:ACN - Get Free Report) last issued its 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 business 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 firm's revenue for the quarter was up 7.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $3.13 earnings per share. On average, analysts predict that Accenture PLC will post 12.73 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Accenture Announces Dividend

The company 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 of this dividend is Thursday, July 10th. This represents a $5.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.19%. Accenture's dividend payout ratio is 47.13%.

Insider Transactions at Accenture

In other news, COO John F. Walsh sold 2,500 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $325.00, for a total transaction of $812,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, 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 ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Angela Beatty sold 203 shares of the business'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 value of $57,315.02. Following the sale, the insider owned 5,249 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,482,002.66. This represents a 3.72% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 5,454 shares of company stock worth $1,646,780. 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.