Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA Lowers Stock Position in Accenture PLC (NYSE:ACN)

Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA reduced its position in Accenture PLC (NYSE:ACN - Free Report) by 2.1% during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 8,942,718 shares of the information technology services provider's stock after selling 193,395 shares during the period. Accenture accounts for approximately 0.9% of Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA's portfolio, making the stock its 15th largest holding. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA owned approximately 1.43% of Accenture worth $2,790,486,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in ACN. Visionary Wealth Advisors boosted 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 worth $274,000 after purchasing an additional 26 shares during the period. Vivaldi Capital Management LP boosted its position in 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 purchasing an additional 27 shares during the period. Nemes Rush Group LLC boosted its position in Accenture by 7.5% during the fourth quarter. Nemes Rush Group LLC now owns 418 shares of the information technology services provider's stock worth $147,000 after purchasing an additional 29 shares during the period. Tradition Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in 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 purchasing an additional 30 shares during the period. Finally, Sentinus LLC boosted its position in 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 purchasing an additional 31 shares during the period. 75.14% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Accenture Price Performance

ACN traded up $3.65 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $279.72. The stock had a trading volume of 3,175,818 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,927,448. The company has a market cap of $175.20 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.27, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.63 and a beta of 1.29. The business has a fifty day moving average of $307.88 and a 200 day moving average of $326.01. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a quick ratio of 1.46 and a current ratio of 1.46. Accenture PLC has a 1 year low of $273.19 and a 1 year high of $398.35.

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 (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.32 by $0.17. The business had revenue of $17.73 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $17.26 billion. Accenture had a return on equity of 26.55% and a net margin of 11.61%. Accenture's revenue for the quarter was up 7.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $3.13 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Accenture PLC will post 12.73 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Accenture Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, July 10th will be paid a $1.48 dividend. This represents a $5.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.12%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, July 10th. Accenture's payout ratio is 47.13%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on the stock. Barclays cut their target price 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 price target on Accenture and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 24th. Guggenheim decreased their price target on Accenture from $360.00 to $335.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, June 23rd. BMO Capital Markets decreased their price target on Accenture from $355.00 to $325.00 and set a "market perform" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, June 23rd. Finally, Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on Accenture from $340.00 to $325.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, June 24th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $370.71.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Mauro Macchi sold 500 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Friday, July 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $282.34, for a total value of $141,170.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 2,283 shares of the company's stock, valued at $644,582.22. This trade represents a 17.97% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, insider Angela Beatty sold 203 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Friday, July 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $282.34, for a total value of $57,315.02. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 5,249 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,482,002.66. The trade was a 3.72% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 5,454 shares of company stock worth $1,646,780. Insiders own 0.02% of the company's stock.

Accenture Company 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.