Penobscot Investment Management Company Inc. Reduces Stake in Accenture PLC $ACN

Key Points

• Penobscot Investment Management trimmed its stake in Accenture by 24.3% in Q4, selling 5,942 shares and holding 18,549 shares valued at about $4.98 million after the sale.
• Company insiders have been net sellers recently — a total of 15,331 shares worth roughly $4,048,871 were sold over the last 90 days, including CAO Melissa Burgum and General Counsel Joel Unruch; insiders now own 0.02% of the stock.
• Accenture beat quarterly estimates (EPS $2.93 vs. $2.84; revenue $18.04B vs. $17.80B, up 7.8% year-over-year) and declared a quarterly dividend of $1.63 (annualized $6.52, ~3.4% yield) with an ex-dividend date of April 9.

Penobscot Investment Management Company Inc. trimmed its stake in Accenture PLC (NYSE:ACN - Free Report) by 24.3% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 18,549 shares of the information technology services provider's stock after selling 5,942 shares during the quarter. Penobscot Investment Management Company Inc.'s holdings in Accenture were worth $4,977,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of ACN. Running Oak Capital LLC lifted its stake in shares of Accenture by 14.3% during the 3rd quarter. Running Oak Capital LLC now owns 57,541 shares of the information technology services provider's stock valued at $14,190,000 after buying an additional 7,190 shares in the last quarter. Weitz Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Accenture by 28.8% during the 3rd quarter. Weitz Investment Management Inc. now owns 160,550 shares of the information technology services provider's stock valued at $39,592,000 after buying an additional 35,900 shares in the last quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. lifted its stake in shares of Accenture by 17.4% during the 3rd quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. now owns 258,599 shares of the information technology services provider's stock valued at $63,771,000 after buying an additional 38,325 shares in the last quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board lifted its stake in shares of Accenture by 180.4% during the 3rd quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 404,680 shares of the information technology services provider's stock valued at $99,794,000 after buying an additional 260,357 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Merit Financial Group LLC lifted its stake in shares of Accenture by 25.5% during the 3rd quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC now owns 22,401 shares of the information technology services provider's stock valued at $5,524,000 after buying an additional 4,552 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 75.14% of the company's stock.

Insider Transactions at Accenture

In other news, CAO Melissa A. Burgum sold 3,588 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, January 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $281.01, for a total value of $1,008,263.88. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 8,179 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,298,380.79. This represents a 30.49% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, General Counsel Joel Unruch sold 1,026 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, January 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $281.70, for a total transaction of $289,024.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the general counsel directly owned 27,181 shares in the company, valued at $7,656,887.70. The trade was a 3.64% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 15,331 shares of company stock worth $4,048,871. Company insiders own 0.02% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have issued reports on the stock. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered their target price on shares of Accenture from $280.00 to $230.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, March 6th. Guggenheim decreased their price target on shares of Accenture from $275.00 to $250.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, March 20th. Piper Sandler set a $282.00 price objective on Accenture in a research report on Thursday, March 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on Accenture from $243.00 to $247.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, March 20th. Finally, Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on Accenture from $320.00 to $240.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, March 16th. Seventeen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and ten have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Accenture currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $274.50.

Accenture Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:ACN opened at $194.54 on Wednesday. The company's fifty day moving average price is $202.42 and its 200-day moving average price is $239.12. The firm has a market capitalization of $129.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.93, a PEG ratio of 1.85 and a beta of 1.24. Accenture PLC has a one year low of $177.50 and a one year high of $325.71. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 1.34 and a quick ratio of 1.34.

Accenture (NYSE:ACN - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, March 20th. The information technology services provider reported $2.93 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.84 by $0.09. The firm had revenue of $18.04 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $17.80 billion. Accenture had a net margin of 10.61% and a return on equity of 26.33%. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 7.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.82 EPS. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Accenture PLC will post 13.87 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Accenture Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 9th will be issued a $1.63 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 9th. This represents a $6.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.4%. Accenture's dividend payout ratio is presently 53.40%.

Accenture Company Profile

Accenture is a global professional services company that provides a broad range of services and solutions in strategy, consulting, digital, technology and operations. The firm works with organizations across industries to design and implement business transformation programs, deploy and manage enterprise technology, optimize operations, and develop customer and digital experiences. Its offerings encompass management and technology consulting, systems integration, application and infrastructure services, cloud migration and managed services, as well as security and analytics capabilities.

The company delivers industry- and function-specific solutions, combining consulting expertise with proprietary tools, platforms and partnerships with major technology vendors.

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