National Bank of Canada FI Increases Stake in Accenture PLC (NYSE:ACN)

Key Points

• National Bank of Canada FI has increased its stake in Accenture PLC by 2.9% during the first quarter, now holding 152,337 shares worth approximately $47.57 million.
• Accenture recently reported quarterly earnings of $3.49 per share, exceeding analysts' estimates, with revenue reaching $17.73 billion, marking a year-over-year growth of 7.7%.
• The company has declared a quarterly dividend of $1.48 per share, scheduled for payment on August 15th, representing a 2.5% dividend yield.

National Bank of Canada FI lifted its position in shares of Accenture PLC (NYSE:ACN - Free Report) by 2.9% during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 152,337 shares of the information technology services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 4,255 shares during the period. National Bank of Canada FI's holdings in Accenture were worth $47,568,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Caisse Des Depots ET Consignations increased its holdings in Accenture by 0.9% during the first quarter. Caisse Des Depots ET Consignations now owns 122,238 shares of the information technology services provider's stock worth $38,143,000 after buying an additional 1,107 shares during the last quarter. AlphaCore Capital LLC increased its stake in shares of Accenture by 170.0% in the first quarter. AlphaCore Capital LLC now owns 9,316 shares of the information technology services provider's stock worth $2,907,000 after purchasing an additional 5,866 shares in the last quarter. Fayez Sarofim & Co increased its stake in shares of Accenture by 4.7% in the first quarter. Fayez Sarofim & Co now owns 45,605 shares of the information technology services provider's stock worth $14,231,000 after purchasing an additional 2,037 shares in the last quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its stake in shares of Accenture by 9.0% in the first quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 3,181,420 shares of the information technology services provider's stock worth $992,730,000 after purchasing an additional 261,572 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC increased its stake in shares of Accenture by 8.2% in the first quarter. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC now owns 15,040 shares of the information technology services provider's stock worth $4,604,000 after purchasing an additional 1,146 shares in the last quarter. 75.14% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Accenture Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE ACN traded down $0.93 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $237.68. 4,832,289 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 4,535,819. Accenture PLC has a 1 year low of $236.67 and a 1 year high of $398.35. The stock has a market capitalization of $148.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.92, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.17 and a beta of 1.29. 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 has a fifty day moving average of $288.13 and a 200 day moving average of $313.86.

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

Accenture Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, July 10th will be given a $1.48 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, July 10th. This represents a $5.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.5%. Accenture's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 47.13%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Accenture news, CEO Mauro Macchi sold 500 shares of the 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 sale, the chief executive officer owned 2,283 shares in the company, valued at $644,582.22. This trade represents a 17.97% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Angela Beatty sold 203 shares of the 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 owned 5,249 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,482,002.66. The trade was a 3.72% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 2,954 shares of company stock worth $834,280 over the last three months. 0.02% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on ACN shares. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft started coverage on shares of Accenture in a research note on Thursday, July 17th. They issued a "hold" rating and a $290.00 target price for the company. Hsbc Global Res upgraded shares of Accenture to a "moderate sell" rating in a research report on Monday, July 28th. Barclays cut their price objective 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 objective on shares of Accenture and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 24th. Finally, Evercore ISI started coverage on shares of Accenture in a research report on Thursday, July 17th. They issued an "outperform" rating and a $330.00 price objective for the company. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating, fifteen have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Accenture presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $360.21.

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.