Mediolanum International Funds Ltd Has $63.91 Million Holdings in Accenture PLC (NYSE:ACN)

Key Points

• Mediolanum International Funds Ltd reduced its stake in Accenture PLC by 18.8%, owning 210,003 shares worth $63.91 million, making it the 21st largest position in its portfolio.
• Accenture reported earnings per share of $3.49 in its most recent quarter, surpassing estimates of $3.32, with revenue also exceeding expectations at $17.73 billion.
• Research analysts have issued a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" for Accenture, with a price target averaging $365.43.

Mediolanum International Funds Ltd lessened its stake in shares of Accenture PLC (NYSE:ACN - Free Report) by 18.8% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 210,003 shares of the information technology services provider's stock after selling 48,578 shares during the quarter. Accenture makes up approximately 0.9% of Mediolanum International Funds Ltd's holdings, making the stock its 21st largest holding. Mediolanum International Funds Ltd's holdings in Accenture were worth $63,910,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in ACN. Lipe & Dalton grew its holdings in shares of Accenture by 2,087.4% during the 1st quarter. Lipe & Dalton now owns 5,031 shares of the information technology services provider's stock worth $1,570,000 after purchasing an additional 4,801 shares during the period. Capital Research Global Investors grew its holdings in shares of Accenture by 16.8% during the 4th quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 12,295,748 shares of the information technology services provider's stock worth $4,325,526,000 after purchasing an additional 1,770,024 shares during the period. Alteri Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Accenture during the 4th quarter worth about $321,000. United Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Accenture during the 1st quarter worth about $758,000. Finally, Exchange Traded Concepts LLC grew its holdings in shares of Accenture by 62.2% during the 1st quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 905 shares of the information technology services provider's stock worth $282,000 after purchasing an additional 347 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.14% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Benchmark reiterated a "mixed" rating on shares of Accenture in a report on Friday, June 20th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on Accenture from $349.00 to $353.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday, June 16th. BMO Capital Markets reduced 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. Guggenheim reduced 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. Finally, Piper Sandler reduced their price target on Accenture from $364.00 to $355.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 16th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating, fifteen have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $360.21.

Insider Transactions at Accenture

In other news, CEO Julie Spellman Sweet sold 2,251 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Friday, July 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $282.45, for a total value of $635,794.95. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer 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 sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Mauro Macchi sold 500 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 $141,170.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 2,283 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $644,582.22. This trade represents a 17.97% 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. Corporate insiders own 0.02% of the company's stock.

Accenture Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE ACN traded down $2.71 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $276.20. The stock had a trading volume of 1,541,757 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,354,893. The stock has a market cap of $172.99 billion, a PE ratio of 21.99, a P/E/G ratio of 2.62 and a beta of 1.29. The firm's 50 day moving average price is $300.93 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $321.07. 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 one year low of $273.19 and a one year high of $398.35.

Accenture (NYSE:ACN - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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 return on equity of 26.55% and a net margin of 11.61%. The firm had revenue of $17.73 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $17.26 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $3.13 EPS. The firm's revenue was up 7.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts forecast that Accenture PLC will post 12.73 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Accenture Dividend Announcement

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 $1.48 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, July 10th. This represents a $5.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.14%. Accenture's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 47.13%.

About Accenture

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.