SG Americas Securities LLC raised its position in Accenture plc (NYSE:ACN - Free Report) by 141.1% during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 167,191 shares of the information technology services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 97,845 shares during the quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC's holdings in Accenture were worth $52,170,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.
Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. FPC Investment Advisory Inc. boosted its holdings in Accenture by 62.2% in the fourth quarter. FPC Investment Advisory Inc. now owns 73 shares of the information technology services provider's stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 28 shares in the last quarter. Kohmann Bosshard Financial Services LLC bought a new position in shares of Accenture in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Mpwm Advisory Solutions LLC bought a new stake in Accenture during the fourth quarter worth approximately $30,000. POM Investment Strategies LLC lifted its stake in shares of Accenture by 64.2% in the fourth quarter. POM Investment Strategies LLC now owns 87 shares of the information technology services provider's stock worth $31,000 after buying an additional 34 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Park Square Financial Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Accenture during the 4th quarter worth $31,000. 75.14% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.
Accenture Price Performance
NYSE:ACN traded down $6.76 on Friday, reaching $311.37. The stock had a trading volume of 3,102,635 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,958,057. The company has a quick ratio of 1.47, a current ratio of 1.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17. The company has a market capitalization of $195.02 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.12, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.23 and a beta of 1.33. Accenture plc has a 1-year low of $275.01 and a 1-year high of $398.35. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $305.50 and a 200-day moving average price of $335.77.
Accenture (NYSE:ACN - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 20th. The information technology services provider reported $2.82 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.81 by $0.01. Accenture had a return on equity of 26.91% and a net margin of 11.41%. The business had revenue of $16.70 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.64 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $2.77 EPS. Accenture's revenue for the quarter was up 5.7% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts forecast that Accenture plc will post 12.73 EPS for the current year.
Accenture Dividend Announcement
The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 10th were given a $1.48 dividend. This represents a $5.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.90%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, April 10th. Accenture's payout ratio is presently 48.89%.
Insider Transactions at Accenture
In other Accenture news, CEO Julie Spellman Sweet sold 2,284 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Friday, April 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $281.63, for a total transaction of $643,242.92. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 9,965 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,806,442.95. This represents a 18.65% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, COO John F. Walsh sold 2,500 shares of Accenture stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $325.00, for a total value of $812,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 15,882 shares of the company's stock, valued at $5,161,650. This trade represents a 13.60% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 8,516 shares of company stock worth $2,507,366. Corporate insiders own 0.02% of the company's stock.
Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth
A number of research analysts have weighed in on ACN shares. Piper Sandler cut their target price on shares of Accenture from $364.00 to $355.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 16th. Barclays decreased their target price on Accenture from $415.00 to $390.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, March 24th. Guggenheim dropped their price target on Accenture from $400.00 to $395.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, March 21st. Mizuho reduced their price objective on Accenture from $428.00 to $398.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, March 19th. Finally, Robert W. Baird raised shares of Accenture from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $390.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Monday, March 17th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $382.15.
Check Out Our Latest Report on Accenture
Accenture Company Profile
(
Free Report)
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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