Accenture PLC (NYSE:ACN) Stock Holdings Boosted by Legato Capital Management LLC

Legato Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Accenture PLC (NYSE:ACN - Free Report) by 31.4% during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 15,153 shares of the information technology services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 3,619 shares during the period. Accenture comprises 0.6% of Legato Capital Management LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 21st biggest holding. Legato Capital Management LLC's holdings in Accenture were worth $4,728,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Mpwm Advisory Solutions LLC acquired a new position in shares of Accenture in the 4th quarter worth approximately $30,000. Park Square Financial Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Accenture in the 4th quarter worth approximately $31,000. Capital A Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Accenture during the 4th quarter worth approximately $34,000. Inlight Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Accenture during the 1st quarter worth approximately $32,000. Finally, Millstone Evans Group LLC purchased a new stake in Accenture during the 4th quarter worth approximately $37,000. 75.14% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages recently weighed in on ACN. Guggenheim cut their target price on shares of Accenture from $360.00 to $335.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, June 23rd. Piper Sandler dropped their price objective on shares of Accenture from $364.00 to $355.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 16th. Mizuho set a $348.00 price objective on shares of Accenture and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 24th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft assumed coverage on shares of Accenture in a research report on Thursday, July 17th. They issued a "hold" rating and a $290.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Argus set a $370.00 price objective on shares of Accenture in a research report on Tuesday, June 24th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $365.43.

Insider Buying and Selling at Accenture

In related news, insider Angela Beatty sold 203 shares of the company'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 $57,315.02. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 5,249 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,482,002.66. This represents a 3.72% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Julie Spellman Sweet sold 2,251 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Friday, July 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $282.45, for a total transaction of $635,794.95. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 8,109 shares in the company, valued at $2,290,387.05. This represents a 21.73% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 5,454 shares of company stock valued at $1,646,780 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.02% of the company's stock.

Accenture Price Performance

NYSE:ACN traded up $1.39 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $283.10. 2,524,712 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,357,995. 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 firm's 50 day simple moving average is $303.28 and its 200 day simple moving average is $322.87. Accenture PLC has a 1 year low of $273.19 and a 1 year high of $398.35. The company has a market cap of $177.31 billion, a PE ratio of 22.54, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 1.29.

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, topping 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $17.26 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $3.13 earnings per share. The company's quarterly revenue was up 7.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts expect that Accenture PLC will post 12.73 EPS for the current year.

Accenture Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, July 10th will be paid 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 2.09%. Accenture's dividend payout ratio is currently 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.