Searle & CO. Boosts Stake in Accenture plc (NYSE:ACN)

Searle & CO. boosted its position in shares of Accenture plc (NYSE:ACN) by 5.1% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 844 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock after buying an additional 41 shares during the period. Searle & CO.’s holdings in Accenture were worth $256,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. GUNN & Co INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT INC. purchased a new stake in shares of Accenture during the fourth quarter worth approximately $295,000. Silver Oak Securities Incorporated boosted its holdings in Accenture by 84.7% in the 4th quarter. Silver Oak Securities Incorporated now owns 820 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $288,000 after purchasing an additional 376 shares in the last quarter. Choreo LLC raised its stake in shares of Accenture by 67.8% during the 4th quarter. Choreo LLC now owns 2,942 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $1,032,000 after buying an additional 1,189 shares in the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Accenture by 8.1% in the 4th quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 123,131 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $43,208,000 after buying an additional 9,195 shares during the period. Finally, Duff & Phelps Investment Management Co. grew its holdings in Accenture by 0.4% during the fourth quarter. Duff & Phelps Investment Management Co. now owns 7,003 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $2,457,000 after acquiring an additional 30 shares during the period. 75.14% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Accenture Stock Performance

NYSE ACN traded up $1.74 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $341.95. 2,004,144 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,810,327. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $319.32 and its 200 day simple moving average is $325.69. The stock has a market capitalization of $214.30 billion, a PE ratio of 31.30, a PEG ratio of 3.66 and a beta of 1.23. Accenture plc has a 1-year low of $278.69 and a 1-year high of $387.51.

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

Accenture Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, July 11th were issued a $1.29 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, July 11th. This represents a $5.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.51%. Accenture’s payout ratio is 47.25%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have commented on the stock. Barclays decreased their target price on shares of Accenture from $390.00 to $350.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, June 17th. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their price objective on shares of Accenture from $340.00 to $275.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, June 5th. Piper Sandler dropped their target price on shares of Accenture from $379.00 to $320.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday, June 17th. Piper Sandler Companies decreased their price target on Accenture from $379.00 to $320.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, June 17th. Finally, TD Cowen dropped their price objective on Accenture from $294.00 to $293.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, June 21st. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $352.33.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Julie Spellman Sweet sold 3,776 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, July 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $309.05, for a total transaction of $1,166,972.80. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 11,819 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,652,661.95. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In other news, CEO Julie Spellman Sweet sold 3,776 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $309.05, for a total value of $1,166,972.80. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 11,819 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,652,661.95. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CFO Kathleen R. Mcclure sold 3,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $309.22, for a total value of $927,660.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 40,070 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $12,390,445.40. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 21,421 shares of company stock valued at $6,912,635. Insiders own 0.07% of the company’s stock.

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.