Rockland Trust Co. Raises Position in Accenture PLC $ACN

Key Points

• Rockland Trust Co. increased its stake in Accenture PLC by 6.5%, holding a total of 74,181 shares worth approximately $22.17 million as of the most recent SEC filing.
• Accenture reported a 7.7% year-over-year increase in quarterly revenue, reaching $17.73 billion, and an EPS of $3.49, exceeding analyst expectations of $3.32.
• Analysts have mixed ratings for Accenture, with a consensus of 14 Buy ratings and 9 Hold ratings, targeting an average price of $335.13 for the stock.

Rockland Trust Co. lifted its stake in Accenture PLC (NYSE:ACN - Free Report) by 6.5% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 74,181 shares of the information technology services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 4,534 shares during the quarter. Rockland Trust Co.'s holdings in Accenture were worth $22,172,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of ACN. Park Square Financial Group LLC acquired a new position in Accenture during the fourth quarter worth approximately $31,000. Kelly Lawrence W & Associates Inc. CA acquired a new position in shares of Accenture in the first quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Inlight Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Accenture in the first quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Capital A Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Accenture in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Finally, WPG Advisers LLC acquired a new position in shares of Accenture in the first quarter valued at approximately $42,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.14% of the company's stock.

Accenture Stock Up 0.5%

Shares of ACN stock traded up $1.10 on Friday, reaching $240.65. 11,449,719 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,980,534. The company has a market cap of $150.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.16, a PEG ratio of 2.07 and a beta of 1.29. The company has a 50-day moving average of $257.73 and a 200-day moving average of $289.38. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 1.46 and a quick ratio of 1.46. Accenture PLC has a one year low of $234.18 and a one year high of $398.35.

Accenture (NYSE:ACN - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, June 20th. The information technology services provider reported $3.49 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.32 by $0.17. Accenture had a net margin of 11.61% and a return on equity of 26.55%. The business had revenue of $17.73 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $17.26 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $3.13 EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 7.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts anticipate that Accenture PLC will post 12.73 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity at Accenture

In related news, CEO Julie Spellman Sweet sold 2,251 shares of the firm'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 transaction, the chief executive officer owned 8,109 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,290,387.05. This trade represents a 21.73% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Mauro Macchi sold 500 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 $141,170.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 2,283 shares in the company, valued at approximately $644,582.22. The trade was a 17.97% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 2,954 shares of company stock valued at $834,280. 0.02% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently commented on ACN. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on Accenture from $325.00 to $271.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, September 9th. Mizuho set a $348.00 price target on Accenture and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 24th. Benchmark restated a "mixed" rating on shares of Accenture in a research note on Friday, June 20th. TD Cowen cut their target price on Accenture from $342.00 to $313.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, September 9th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut their target price on Accenture from $290.00 to $260.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, September 11th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have given a Buy rating, eight have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $335.39.

Accenture Company 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.