Windward Capital Management Co. CA Has $39.17 Million Stock Position in Accenture plc (NYSE:ACN)

Windward Capital Management Co. CA cut its stake in Accenture plc (NYSE:ACN) by 2.5% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 129,108 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock after selling 3,340 shares during the period. Accenture makes up approximately 3.3% of Windward Capital Management Co. CA’s holdings, making the stock its 8th biggest position. Windward Capital Management Co. CA’s holdings in Accenture were worth $39,172,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of ACN. Gallacher Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Accenture by 18.5% during the 2nd quarter. Gallacher Capital Management LLC now owns 892 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $271,000 after purchasing an additional 139 shares in the last quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC bought a new position in Accenture in the second quarter worth $28,000. Umpqua Bank boosted its stake in Accenture by 1.6% during the second quarter. Umpqua Bank now owns 3,816 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $1,158,000 after buying an additional 61 shares in the last quarter. Parcion Private Wealth LLC increased its holdings in Accenture by 4.6% in the 2nd quarter. Parcion Private Wealth LLC now owns 15,783 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $4,789,000 after buying an additional 700 shares during the period. Finally, Cobblestone Capital Advisors LLC NY boosted its position in shares of Accenture by 3.0% during the 2nd quarter. Cobblestone Capital Advisors LLC NY now owns 2,137 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $648,000 after acquiring an additional 63 shares in the last quarter. 75.14% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at Accenture

In other news, General Counsel Joel Unruch sold 8,145 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $331.05, for a total value of $2,696,402.25. Following the completion of the sale, the general counsel now directly owns 22,849 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,564,161.45. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other news, General Counsel Joel Unruch sold 8,145 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, July 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $331.05, for a total value of $2,696,402.25. Following the completion of the transaction, the general counsel now owns 22,849 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,564,161.45. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Julie Spellman Sweet sold 3,776 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on 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 sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 11,819 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,652,661.95. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 21,421 shares of company stock valued at $6,912,635. 0.07% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Accenture Stock Performance

NYSE:ACN opened at $339.84 on Friday. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $323.63 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $324.30. The company has a market cap of $212.98 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.12, a P/E/G ratio of 3.81 and a beta of 1.24. Accenture plc has a 52-week low of $278.69 and a 52-week high of $387.51.

Accenture (NYSE:ACN) last posted 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $16.55 billion. Accenture had a net margin of 10.79% and a return on equity of 27.48%. Accenture’s revenue was down .6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $3.19 EPS. On average, equities analysts predict that Accenture plc will post 11.95 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Accenture Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, July 11th were paid a dividend of $1.29 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, July 11th. This represents a $5.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.52%. Accenture’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 47.25%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ACN has been the subject of several recent research reports. BMO Capital Markets dropped their price target on shares of Accenture from $375.00 to $350.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, June 21st. Piper Sandler 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on Accenture from $330.00 to $376.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft downgraded shares of Accenture from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and reduced their target price for the company from $409.00 to $295.00 in a research note on Wednesday, May 15th. Finally, Guggenheim reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $395.00 target price on shares of Accenture in a research report on Friday, May 24th. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $353.41.

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.