Russell Investments Group Ltd. Sells 159,987 Shares of Accenture PLC (NYSE:ACN)

Key Points

• Russell Investments Group Ltd. has reduced its holdings in Accenture PLC by 18.8%, owning 693,248 shares worth approximately $215.66 million after selling 159,987 shares in the first quarter.
• Accenture announced a quarterly dividend of $1.48 per share, which will be paid on August 15, 2023, representing an annualized yield of 2.5%.
• Despite recent insider selling, Accenture's stock remains well-regarded, with analysts giving it an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $360.21.

Russell Investments Group Ltd. decreased its holdings in Accenture PLC (NYSE:ACN - Free Report) by 18.8% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 693,248 shares of the information technology services provider's stock after selling 159,987 shares during the quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. owned 0.11% of Accenture worth $215,664,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Accenture by 5.7% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 63,814,234 shares of the information technology services provider's stock valued at $19,912,594,000 after buying an additional 3,419,577 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its position in shares of Accenture by 30,256.8% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 3,421,519 shares of the information technology services provider's stock valued at $1,067,651,000 after buying an additional 3,410,248 shares in the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors raised its position in shares of Accenture by 16.8% in the 4th quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 12,295,748 shares of the information technology services provider's stock valued at $4,325,526,000 after buying an additional 1,770,024 shares in the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. raised its position in shares of Accenture by 2,782.1% in the 1st quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 1,445,281 shares of the information technology services provider's stock valued at $450,985,000 after buying an additional 1,395,135 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp grew its holdings in shares of Accenture by 10.7% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 7,582,344 shares of the information technology services provider's stock valued at $2,667,393,000 after purchasing an additional 732,769 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.14% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Argus set a $370.00 price target on shares of Accenture in a report on Tuesday, June 24th. Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on shares of Accenture from $340.00 to $325.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, June 24th. Mizuho set a $348.00 price target on shares of Accenture and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Tuesday, June 24th. Barclays decreased their price target on shares of Accenture from $390.00 to $360.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, June 23rd. Finally, UBS Group reissued a "buy" rating and set a $395.00 target price (up from $390.00) on shares of Accenture in a report on Thursday, May 22nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating, fifteen have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $360.21.

Accenture Stock Up 0.4%

Shares of Accenture stock traded up $0.88 during trading on Friday, reaching $247.04. 4,223,359 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 4,754,784. 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 1-year low of $236.67 and a 1-year high of $398.35. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $283.92 and a 200-day moving average price of $311.61. The firm has a market capitalization of $154.73 billion, a PE ratio of 19.67, a P/E/G ratio of 2.24 and a beta of 1.29.

Accenture (NYSE:ACN - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, June 20th. The information technology services provider reported $3.49 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 firm had revenue of $17.73 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $17.26 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $3.13 earnings per share. The business's revenue was up 7.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Accenture PLC will post 12.73 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Accenture Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, July 10th were paid a $1.48 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, July 10th. This represents a $5.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.4%. Accenture's dividend payout ratio is presently 47.13%.

Insider Transactions at Accenture

In other news, insider Angela Beatty sold 203 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Friday, July 11th. The shares were 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 $1,482,002.66. This represents a 3.72% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Julie Spellman Sweet sold 2,251 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Friday, July 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $282.45, for a total transaction of $635,794.95. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 8,109 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,290,387.05. The trade was a 21.73% 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 in the last quarter. 0.02% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.