Accenture PLC (NYSE:ACN) Shares Sold by PNC Financial Services Group Inc.

Key Points

• PNC Financial Services Group Inc. decreased its holdings in Accenture PLC by 0.6%, now owning approximately 954,573 shares, valued at $297,865,000.
• Accenture's recent quarterly earnings exceeded expectations, reporting $3.49 EPS against a consensus estimate of $3.32, along with a revenue of $17.73 billion.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $1.48 per share, representing a 2.3% yield, with the dividend payout ratio standing at 47.13%.

PNC Financial Services Group Inc. lessened its stake in Accenture PLC (NYSE:ACN - Free Report) by 0.6% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 954,573 shares of the information technology services provider's stock after selling 5,720 shares during the period. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. owned approximately 0.15% of Accenture worth $297,865,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Endeavor Private Wealth Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Accenture by 494.8% during the 1st quarter. Endeavor Private Wealth Inc. now owns 803 shares of the information technology services provider's stock worth $250,000 after acquiring an additional 668 shares during the last quarter. Fiduciary Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Accenture in the first quarter valued at approximately $45,000. IFG Advisory LLC increased its position in shares of Accenture by 5.7% during the first quarter. IFG Advisory LLC now owns 11,183 shares of the information technology services provider's stock worth $3,490,000 after purchasing an additional 603 shares in the last quarter. Blueshift Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Accenture during the first quarter valued at $266,000. Finally, Castellan Group raised its stake in Accenture by 115.6% in the 1st quarter. Castellan Group now owns 14,135 shares of the information technology services provider's stock worth $4,411,000 after acquiring an additional 7,578 shares during the last quarter. 75.14% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Accenture Stock Down 4.5%

NYSE:ACN traded down $11.92 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $255.18. The company's stock had a trading volume of 6,041,752 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,832,535. The stock has a market capitalization of $159.83 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.32, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.32 and a beta of 1.29. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $297.98 and a 200-day moving average of $319.10. The company has a current ratio of 1.46, a quick ratio of 1.46 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. Accenture PLC has a 52-week low of $254.20 and a 52-week high of $398.35.

Accenture (NYSE:ACN - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Friday, June 20th. The information technology services provider reported $3.49 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.32 by $0.17. The firm had revenue of $17.73 billion for 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% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $3.13 earnings per share. On average, equities 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 of this dividend is Thursday, July 10th. This represents a $5.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.3%. Accenture's payout ratio is 47.13%.

Insider Activity at Accenture

In other news, CEO Julie Spellman Sweet sold 2,251 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 11th. The shares were 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 directly owned 8,109 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $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 Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Angela Beatty sold 203 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $282.34, for a total transaction of $57,315.02. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 5,249 shares of the company's stock, 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 5,454 shares of company stock valued at $1,646,780 in the last ninety days. 0.02% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently commented on ACN shares. Argus set a $370.00 target price on Accenture in a research note on Tuesday, June 24th. Piper Sandler cut their price objective on shares of Accenture from $364.00 to $355.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 16th. Mizuho set a $348.00 price objective on shares of Accenture and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Tuesday, June 24th. Evercore ISI started coverage on shares of Accenture in a report on Thursday, July 17th. They issued an "outperform" rating and a $330.00 price objective for the company. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of Accenture from $349.00 to $353.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday, June 16th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating, fifteen have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $360.21.

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.