Accenture plc (NYSE:ACN) General Counsel Sells $155,974.68 in Stock

Accenture plc (NYSE:ACN – Get Rating) General Counsel Joel Unruch sold 556 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $280.53, for a total value of $155,974.68. Following the sale, the general counsel now owns 42,991 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $12,060,265.23. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website.

Accenture Trading Down 1.6 %

Shares of ACN opened at $274.87 on Wednesday. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $280.34 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $282.13. Accenture plc has a 12 month low of $242.95 and a 12 month high of $360.10. The company has a market cap of $173.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.97, a P/E/G ratio of 2.58 and a beta of 1.23.

Accenture (NYSE:ACN – Get Rating) last issued its earnings results on Friday, December 16th. The information technology services provider reported $3.08 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.91 by $0.17. Accenture had a return on equity of 31.49% and a net margin of 11.31%. The business had revenue of $15.75 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $15.58 billion. As a group, research analysts forecast that Accenture plc will post 11.46 EPS for the current year.

Accenture Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, February 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, January 10th will be paid a $1.12 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, January 11th. This represents a $4.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.63%. Accenture’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 40.69%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Accenture

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of ACN. Tsfg LLC boosted its stake in shares of Accenture by 108.7% in the 3rd quarter. Tsfg LLC now owns 96 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $25,000 after buying an additional 50 shares during the last quarter. Affiance Financial LLC bought a new position in Accenture in the 4th quarter worth $25,000. My Personal CFO LLC bought a new position in Accenture in the 4th quarter worth $27,000. Schubert & Co raised its holdings in Accenture by 71.6% in the 2nd quarter. Schubert & Co now owns 115 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 48 shares during the period. Finally, Norwood Financial Corp bought a new position in Accenture in the 3rd quarter worth $32,000. 73.97% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently weighed in on ACN. Cowen increased their target price on Accenture from $295.00 to $300.00 in a report on Monday, December 19th. StockNews.com upgraded Accenture from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 12th. Piper Sandler lowered Accenture from a “neutral” rating to an “underweight” rating and set a $268.00 price target for the company. in a research report on Monday, December 12th. Robert W. Baird lowered their price target on Accenture from $310.00 to $290.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, December 19th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on Accenture from $306.00 to $327.00 in a research report on Thursday, December 15th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $326.78.

About Accenture

(Get Rating)

Accenture Plc engages in the provision of management consulting, technology, and outsourcing services. It operates through the following geographical segments: North America, Europe and Growth Markets. The company was founded in 1989 and is headquartered in Dublin, Ireland.