Penobscot Investment Management Company Inc. Sells 1,522 Shares of Accenture PLC (NYSE:ACN)

Penobscot Investment Management Company Inc. trimmed its holdings in Accenture PLC (NYSE:ACN - Free Report) by 4.8% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 29,896 shares of the information technology services provider's stock after selling 1,522 shares during the quarter. Accenture comprises approximately 0.9% of Penobscot Investment Management Company Inc.'s portfolio, making the stock its 29th biggest position. Penobscot Investment Management Company Inc.'s holdings in Accenture were worth $9,329,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Visionary Wealth Advisors raised its stake in shares of Accenture by 3.5% in 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 last quarter. Vivaldi Capital Management LP raised 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 valued at $292,000 after acquiring an additional 27 shares in the last quarter. Nemes Rush Group LLC raised 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 valued at $147,000 after acquiring an additional 29 shares in the last quarter. United Community Bank raised its position in Accenture by 1.5% during the fourth quarter. United Community Bank now owns 2,069 shares of the information technology services provider's stock valued at $728,000 after acquiring an additional 30 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Tradition Wealth Management LLC raised 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 valued at $3,863,000 after acquiring an additional 30 shares in the last quarter. 75.14% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Accenture Stock Down 2.0%

Shares of NYSE:ACN opened at $294.71 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.48, a current ratio of 1.46 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. The business has a fifty day moving average of $307.51 and a two-hundred day moving average of $332.55. The stock has a market cap of $184.59 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.46, a PEG ratio of 2.95 and a beta of 1.33. Accenture PLC has a 52-week low of $273.19 and a 52-week 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, beating the consensus estimate of $3.32 by $0.17. Accenture had a return on equity of 26.55% and a net margin of 11.61%. The company had revenue of $17.73 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $17.26 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $3.13 EPS. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 7.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts expect that Accenture PLC will post 12.73 earnings per share for the current year.

Accenture Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, July 10th will be paid a $1.48 dividend. This represents a $5.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.01%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, July 10th. Accenture's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 47.13%.

Insider Activity

In related news, General Counsel Joel Unruch sold 3,563 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, April 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $281.78, for a total transaction of $1,003,982.14. Following the transaction, the general counsel now owns 17,237 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,857,041.86. This represents a 17.13% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Julie Spellman Sweet sold 2,284 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, April 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $281.63, for a total value of $643,242.92. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 9,965 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,806,442.95. The trade was a 18.65% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 8,516 shares of company stock valued at $2,507,366 in the last quarter. Insiders own 0.02% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ACN has been the subject of several recent research reports. Baird R W upgraded Accenture from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Monday, March 17th. BMO Capital Markets reduced their price target on Accenture from $355.00 to $325.00 and set a "market perform" rating for the company in a research report on Monday. UBS Group restated a "buy" rating and issued a $395.00 price objective (up from $390.00) on shares of Accenture in a research report on Thursday, May 22nd. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on Accenture from $340.00 to $325.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, Robert W. Baird upgraded Accenture from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $390.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Monday, March 17th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $370.75.

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.

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