Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank Buys 140,770 Shares of Accenture PLC (NYSE:ACN)

Key Points

• Zurcher Kantonalbank increased its stake in Accenture PLC by 27.5%, now owning approximately 652,777 shares valued at around $203.7 million, making it the 23rd largest position in their portfolio.
• Accenture reported a strong earnings quarter, with an EPS of $3.49, exceeding analyst expectations, and a revenue of $17.73 billion, up 7.7% compared to the previous year.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $1.48, scheduled for payment on August 15th, representing an annualized dividend yield of 2.09% with a payout ratio of 47.13%.

Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank increased its holdings in Accenture PLC (NYSE:ACN - Free Report) by 27.5% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 652,777 shares of the information technology services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 140,770 shares during the quarter. Accenture makes up 0.6% of Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank's investment portfolio, making the stock its 23rd biggest holding. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank owned approximately 0.10% of Accenture worth $203,693,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Mpwm Advisory Solutions LLC bought a new stake in shares of Accenture during the 4th quarter valued at about $30,000. Park Square Financial Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Accenture in the fourth quarter worth approximately $31,000. Inlight Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Accenture during the 1st quarter valued at $32,000. Capital A Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Accenture in the 4th quarter worth about $34,000. Finally, Navigoe LLC bought a new position in shares of Accenture in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $37,000. 75.14% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other Accenture news, COO John F. Walsh sold 2,500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $325.00, for a total value of $812,500.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer owned 15,882 shares of the company's stock, valued at $5,161,650. This represents a 13.60% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Angela Beatty sold 203 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $282.34, for a total transaction of $57,315.02. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 5,249 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,482,002.66. The trade was a 3.72% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 5,454 shares of company stock valued at $1,646,780 in the last quarter. 0.02% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Accenture Stock Performance

Accenture stock traded down $2.71 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $276.20. 1,541,757 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,354,893. 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 12 month low of $273.19 and a 12 month high of $398.35. The firm has a market capitalization of $172.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.99, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.62 and a beta of 1.29. The business has a 50 day moving average of $300.93 and a two-hundred day moving average of $321.07.

Accenture (NYSE:ACN - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, June 20th. The information technology services provider reported $3.49 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.32 by $0.17. The firm had revenue of $17.73 billion during 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 was up 7.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $3.13 EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that Accenture PLC will post 12.73 earnings per share for the current year.

Accenture Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, July 10th will be issued a $1.48 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, July 10th. This represents a $5.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.14%. Accenture's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 47.13%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on ACN. Barclays reduced their target price on shares of Accenture from $390.00 to $360.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, June 23rd. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on shares of Accenture from $340.00 to $325.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, June 24th. BMO Capital Markets lowered their price target on Accenture from $355.00 to $325.00 and set a "market perform" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, June 23rd. Mizuho set a $348.00 target price on shares of Accenture and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 24th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on Accenture from $349.00 to $353.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday, June 16th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating, fifteen have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus 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.