Advisory Resource Group Lowers Stake in Accenture plc (NYSE:ACN)

Advisory Resource Group lowered its holdings in shares of Accenture plc (NYSE:ACN) by 5.6% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 2,038 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock after selling 122 shares during the period. Advisory Resource Group’s holdings in Accenture were worth $629,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL bought a new stake in Accenture in the 1st quarter worth $28,000. Barrett & Company Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Accenture during the 1st quarter valued at about $29,000. Sageworth Trust Co lifted its position in Accenture by 872.7% during the 1st quarter. Sageworth Trust Co now owns 107 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $31,000 after acquiring an additional 96 shares during the period. Guardian Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Accenture during the 1st quarter valued at about $32,000. Finally, First Command Financial Services Inc. lifted its position in Accenture by 131.6% during the 1st quarter. First Command Financial Services Inc. now owns 132 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $38,000 after acquiring an additional 75 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 70.42% of the company’s stock.

Accenture Stock Performance

NYSE:ACN traded up $1.26 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $313.79. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 131,728 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,300,571. The business’s 50-day moving average is $316.31 and its two-hundred day moving average is $296.37. The company has a market capitalization of $208.56 billion, a PE ratio of 27.85, a PEG ratio of 2.68 and a beta of 1.22. Accenture plc has a 52-week low of $242.80 and a 52-week high of $330.43.

Accenture (NYSE:ACN) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, June 22nd. The information technology services provider reported $3.19 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.96 by $0.23. The firm had revenue of $16.56 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $16.49 billion. Accenture had a return on equity of 30.47% and a net margin of 11.28%. Accenture’s revenue was up 2.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $2.79 earnings per share. As a group, analysts predict that Accenture plc will post 11.6 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Ellyn Shook sold 5,250 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $315.00, for a total transaction of $1,653,750.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 21,958 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,916,770. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In related news, CEO Leonardo Framil sold 3,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $311.52, for a total transaction of $934,560.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 16,898 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,264,064.96. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, insider Ellyn Shook sold 5,250 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, July 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $315.00, for a total value of $1,653,750.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 21,958 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,916,770. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 25,774 shares of company stock valued at $8,138,451. Insiders own 0.08% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently weighed in on ACN. TD Cowen boosted their price objective on shares of Accenture from $300.00 to $312.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 12th. Societe Generale upped their price target on shares of Accenture from $314.00 to $373.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, July 7th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price on shares of Accenture from $310.00 to $343.00 in a report on Thursday, June 15th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their target price on shares of Accenture from $292.00 to $377.00 in a report on Friday, June 9th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets downgraded shares of Accenture from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 3rd. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Accenture has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $335.25.

About Accenture

Accenture plc, a professional services company, provides strategy and consulting, interactive, 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 comprises 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 comprises turnkey analytics and artificial intelligence (AI) solutions; metaverse; and sustainability services.