Logan Capital Management Inc. Sells 1,665 Shares of Accenture plc (NYSE:ACN)

Logan Capital Management Inc. decreased its position in shares of Accenture plc (NYSE:ACN - Free Report) by 2.8% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 57,908 shares of the information technology services provider's stock after selling 1,665 shares during the period. Accenture makes up 0.9% of Logan Capital Management Inc.'s holdings, making the stock its 25th biggest position. Logan Capital Management Inc.'s holdings in Accenture were worth $20,372,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of ACN. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Accenture during the 4th quarter worth $2,351,683,000. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its position in Accenture by 22.8% in the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 12,175,518 shares of the information technology services provider's stock valued at $4,283,225,000 after acquiring an additional 2,260,740 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in Accenture during the fourth quarter worth about $666,495,000. Capital Research Global Investors lifted 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 worth $4,325,526,000 after acquiring an additional 1,770,024 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Swedbank AB boosted its stake in shares of Accenture by 47.5% in the 4th quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 3,763,690 shares of the information technology services provider's stock valued at $1,324,029,000 after purchasing an additional 1,212,011 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.14% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, COO John F. Walsh sold 2,500 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $325.00, for a total transaction of $812,500.00. Following the transaction, 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 transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, General Counsel Joel Unruch sold 3,563 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, April 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $281.78, for a total transaction of $1,003,982.14. Following the completion of the sale, the general counsel now owns 17,237 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,857,041.86. This trade represents a 17.13% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 8,516 shares of company stock worth $2,507,366 in the last quarter. Insiders own 0.02% of the company's stock.

Accenture Stock Up 0.9%

NYSE:ACN traded up $2.76 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $323.17. The company had a trading volume of 3,047,632 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,988,220. Accenture plc has a twelve month low of $275.01 and a twelve month high of $398.35. 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 firm has a market cap of $202.41 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.11, a P/E/G ratio of 3.23 and a beta of 1.35. The business's 50-day simple moving average is $303.05 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $341.80.

Accenture (NYSE:ACN - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, March 20th. The information technology services provider reported $2.82 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.64 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.77 EPS. The firm's revenue was up 5.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts expect that Accenture plc will post 12.73 earnings per share for the current year.

Accenture Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 10th will be given a dividend of $1.48 per share. This represents a $5.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.83%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 10th. Accenture's payout ratio is presently 48.89%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

ACN has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on shares of Accenture from $380.00 to $372.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a report on Monday, March 17th. Robert W. Baird raised Accenture from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $390.00 target price for the company in a report on Monday, March 17th. Stifel Nicolaus cut their price target on Accenture from $390.00 to $380.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 26th. Piper Sandler lowered their price objective on Accenture from $364.00 to $355.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 16th. Finally, Barclays cut their target price on shares of Accenture from $415.00 to $390.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, March 24th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Accenture currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $377.82.

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.