Westbourne Investment Advisors Inc. Trims Holdings in Accenture plc (NYSE:ACN)

Westbourne Investment Advisors Inc. cut its stake in Accenture plc (NYSE:ACN) by 1.4% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 17,542 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock after selling 257 shares during the period. Accenture accounts for about 2.5% of Westbourne Investment Advisors Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 12th largest holding. Westbourne Investment Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Accenture were worth $6,156,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of ACN. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL purchased a new position in Accenture during the first quarter worth about $28,000. BluePath Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Accenture during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $31,000. RVW Wealth LLC purchased a new position in Accenture in the third quarter worth approximately $33,000. Tyler Stone Wealth Management acquired a new stake in Accenture during the second quarter worth $35,000. Finally, Canton Hathaway LLC purchased a new stake in Accenture in the third quarter valued at $37,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.14% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Accenture

In related news, insider Ellyn Shook sold 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $371.81, for a total transaction of $1,859,050.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 20,316 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,553,691.96. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In other news, insider Ellyn Shook sold 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $371.81, for a total transaction of $1,859,050.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 20,316 shares in the company, valued at $7,553,691.96. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, General Counsel Joel Unruch sold 4,333 shares of Accenture stock in a transaction on Friday, January 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $371.83, for a total transaction of $1,611,139.39. Following the completion of the transaction, the general counsel now owns 34,795 shares in the company, valued at $12,937,824.85. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 31,000 shares of company stock worth $11,146,998. 0.07% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have weighed in on ACN shares. StockNews.com lowered shares of Accenture from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, March 22nd. UBS Group lifted their target price on shares of Accenture from $365.00 to $400.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, January 25th. Piper Sandler upped their price target on Accenture from $335.00 to $394.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, March 18th. Robert W. Baird lifted their price objective on Accenture from $364.00 to $375.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 7th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets decreased their target price on Accenture from $385.00 to $375.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, March 22nd. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Accenture presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $387.00.

Accenture Price Performance

Shares of ACN traded up $2.52 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $343.46. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,026,071 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,259,170. Accenture plc has a 12-month low of $261.68 and a 12-month high of $387.51. The stock has a market cap of $215.46 billion, a PE ratio of 30.91, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.19 and a beta of 1.20. The company’s 50 day moving average is $369.38 and its 200 day moving average is $340.37.

Accenture (NYSE:ACN) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 21st. The information technology services provider reported $2.77 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.66 by $0.11. The company had revenue of $15.80 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $15.85 billion. Accenture had a net margin of 10.89% and a return on equity of 28.30%. The firm’s revenue was down .1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $2.69 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Accenture plc will post 12.1 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Accenture Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, April 11th will be paid a dividend of $1.29 per share. This represents a $5.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.50%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, April 10th. Accenture’s dividend payout ratio is currently 46.78%.

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.