Vestcor Inc Raises Stake in Accenture PLC (NYSE:ACN)

Key Points

• Vestcor Inc increased its stake in Accenture PLC by 15.6% during the 1st quarter, acquiring 23,488 shares valued at approximately $7.33 million.
• Accenture reported a quarterly EPS of $3.49, surpassing estimates, with revenue of $17.73 billion showing a year-over-year growth of 7.7%.
• The company announced a $1.48 quarterly dividend, representing an annualized yield of 2.16%, with a payout ratio of 47.13%.

Vestcor Inc grew its stake in Accenture PLC (NYSE:ACN - Free Report) by 15.6% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 23,488 shares of the information technology services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 3,167 shares during the period. Vestcor Inc's holdings in Accenture were worth $7,329,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of ACN. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Accenture by 1.0% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 13,528,348 shares of the information technology services provider's stock valued at $4,750,021,000 after purchasing an additional 136,665 shares during the period. Capital Research Global Investors boosted its holdings in shares of Accenture by 16.8% in the fourth 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 purchasing an additional 1,770,024 shares during the period. Capital International Investors boosted its holdings in shares of Accenture by 2.2% in the fourth quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 8,513,140 shares of the information technology services provider's stock valued at $2,994,922,000 after purchasing an additional 181,449 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Accenture by 10.7% in the fourth 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 period. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Accenture by 9.9% in the fourth quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 6,036,845 shares of the information technology services provider's stock valued at $2,123,702,000 after purchasing an additional 545,109 shares during the period. 75.14% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Accenture

In other news, CEO Mauro Macchi sold 500 shares of Accenture stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $282.34, for a total value of $141,170.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 2,283 shares of the company's stock, valued at $644,582.22. The trade was a 17.97% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Julie Spellman Sweet sold 2,251 shares of Accenture stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 11th. The stock was 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 in the company, valued at $2,290,387.05. This represents a 21.73% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 5,454 shares of company stock valued at $1,646,780. Insiders own 0.02% of the company's stock.

Accenture Price Performance

Shares of ACN stock traded down $4.83 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $274.07. 4,270,498 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,295,311. The company has a quick ratio of 1.46, a current ratio of 1.46 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. The firm has a market cap of $171.66 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.82, a P/E/G ratio of 2.64 and a beta of 1.29. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $300.06 and a two-hundred day moving average of $320.74. Accenture PLC has a fifty-two week low of $272.39 and a fifty-two week high of $398.35.

Accenture (NYSE:ACN - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results 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. The business had revenue of $17.73 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $17.26 billion. Accenture had a return on equity of 26.55% and a net margin of 11.61%. The business's quarterly revenue was up 7.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $3.13 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that Accenture PLC will post 12.73 EPS for the current year.

Accenture Announces Dividend

The company 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.16%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, July 10th. Accenture's dividend payout ratio is presently 47.13%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on ACN shares. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective 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. Hsbc Global Res upgraded Accenture to a "moderate sell" rating in a research note on Monday. Benchmark reissued a "mixed" rating on shares of Accenture in a research report on Friday, June 20th. HSBC initiated coverage on shares of Accenture in a research report on Monday. They set a "reduce" rating and a $240.00 target price for the company. Finally, Piper Sandler decreased 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. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating, fifteen have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $360.21.

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.