Accenture plc (NYSE:ACN) Holdings Lifted by Naviter Wealth LLC

Naviter Wealth LLC increased its holdings in Accenture plc (NYSE:ACN) by 13.1% in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 5,733 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock after buying an additional 663 shares during the quarter. Naviter Wealth LLC’s holdings in Accenture were worth $1,987,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Chilton Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Accenture by 180.0% in the fourth quarter. Chilton Capital Management LLC now owns 70 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 45 shares during the period. DiNuzzo Private Wealth Inc. bought a new position in shares of Accenture in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Annapolis Financial Services LLC increased its stake in shares of Accenture by 507.7% during the first quarter. Annapolis Financial Services LLC now owns 79 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $27,000 after acquiring an additional 66 shares during the period. Ables Iannone Moore & Associates Inc. bought a new stake in Accenture during the fourth quarter worth approximately $29,000. Finally, Atwood & Palmer Inc. boosted its stake in Accenture by 214.8% during the 1st quarter. Atwood & Palmer Inc. now owns 85 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 58 shares in the last quarter. 75.14% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have recently weighed in on the company. TD Cowen cut their price objective on Accenture from $294.00 to $293.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Friday, June 21st. Mizuho dropped their target price on shares of Accenture from $398.00 to $350.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, June 18th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on shares of Accenture from $374.00 to $381.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, March 22nd. BMO Capital Markets dropped their price target on Accenture from $375.00 to $350.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, June 21st. Finally, Citigroup reduced their price objective on Accenture from $430.00 to $400.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, March 22nd. Twelve investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $352.74.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Accenture news, General Counsel Joel Unruch sold 4,333 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, April 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $316.12, for a total transaction of $1,369,747.96. Following the transaction, the general counsel now owns 30,702 shares in the company, valued at $9,705,516.24. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other Accenture news, insider Ellyn Shook sold 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $307.22, for a total value of $1,536,100.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 13,699 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,208,606.78. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, General Counsel Joel Unruch sold 4,333 shares of Accenture stock in a transaction dated Friday, April 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $316.12, for a total value of $1,369,747.96. Following the sale, the general counsel now directly owns 30,702 shares in the company, valued at $9,705,516.24. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 20,083 shares of company stock valued at $6,302,285 over the last three months. 0.07% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Accenture Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:ACN traded up $1.28 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $303.83. 2,177,166 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,907,553. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $299.86 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $335.76. Accenture plc has a 52-week low of $278.69 and a 52-week high of $387.51. The company has a market capitalization of $190.41 billion, a PE ratio of 27.68, a P/E/G ratio of 3.38 and a beta of 1.23.

Accenture (NYSE:ACN) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, June 20th. The information technology services provider reported $3.13 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $3.15 by ($0.02). The firm had revenue of $16.47 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.55 billion. Accenture had a net margin of 10.79% and a return on equity of 27.48%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down .6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $3.19 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Accenture plc will post 11.95 EPS for the current year.

Accenture Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, July 11th will be issued a $1.29 dividend. This represents a $5.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.70%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, July 11th. Accenture’s dividend payout ratio is presently 47.25%.

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.