Accenture PLC (NYSE:ACN) Shares Sold by Continuum Advisory LLC

Continuum Advisory LLC decreased its position in Accenture PLC (NYSE:ACN) by 7.1% in the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 1,206 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock after selling 92 shares during the period. Continuum Advisory LLC’s holdings in Accenture were worth $376,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of ACN. Kohmann Bosshard Financial Services LLC bought a new stake in Accenture during the fourth quarter worth approximately $30,000. Mpwm Advisory Solutions LLC bought a new stake in Accenture during the fourth quarter worth approximately $30,000. Park Square Financial Group LLC bought a new stake in Accenture during the fourth quarter worth approximately $31,000. Inlight Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Accenture during the first quarter worth approximately $32,000. Finally, Promus Capital LLC bought a new stake in Accenture during the fourth quarter worth approximately $34,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.14% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages 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 report on Monday. Piper Sandler decreased their price objective on shares of Accenture from $364.00 to $355.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 16th. Mizuho decreased their price objective on shares of Accenture from $365.00 to $348.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday. UBS Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $395.00 price objective (up previously from $390.00) on shares of Accenture in a research note on Thursday, May 22nd. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price objective on shares of Accenture from $390.00 to $380.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 26th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $370.75.

Insider Activity

In related news, General Counsel Joel Unruch sold 3,563 shares of Accenture stock in a transaction on Friday, April 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $281.78, for a total value of $1,003,982.14. Following the transaction, the general counsel now owns 17,237 shares in the company, valued at $4,857,041.86. This trade represents a 17.13% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, COO John F. Walsh sold 2,500 shares of Accenture stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $325.00, for a total transaction of $812,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 15,882 shares in the company, valued at $5,161,650. This trade represents a 13.60% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 8,516 shares of company stock worth $2,507,366. 0.02% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Accenture Trading Up 1.9%

Shares of NYSE:ACN opened at $300.66 on Wednesday. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $307.33 and a two-hundred day moving average of $332.81. The firm has a market capitalization of $188.31 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.94, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.94 and a beta of 1.33. Accenture PLC has a 12-month low of $273.19 and a 12-month high of $398.35. The company has a quick ratio of 1.48, a current ratio of 1.46 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16.

Accenture (NYSE:ACN) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, June 20th. The information technology services provider reported $3.49 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.32 by $0.17. The business had revenue of $17.73 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $17.26 billion. Accenture had a net margin of 11.61% and a return on equity of 26.55%. Accenture’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $3.13 EPS. On average, equities analysts expect that Accenture PLC will post 12.73 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Accenture Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, July 10th will be issued a dividend of $1.48 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, July 10th. This represents a $5.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.97%. Accenture’s dividend payout ratio is currently 47.13%.

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.