Ascent Group LLC Acquires 4,328 Shares of Accenture PLC $ACN

Ascent Group LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Accenture PLC (NYSE:ACN) by 26.8% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 20,457 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock after buying an additional 4,328 shares during the period. Ascent Group LLC’s holdings in Accenture were worth $5,489,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. JB Capital LLC acquired a new position in shares of Accenture during the 4th quarter worth approximately $2,972,000. NTV Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in Accenture by 256.8% during the 4th quarter. NTV Asset Management LLC now owns 6,127 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $1,644,000 after purchasing an additional 4,410 shares during the last quarter. Cromwell Holdings LLC lifted its holdings in Accenture by 213.5% during the 4th quarter. Cromwell Holdings LLC now owns 2,060 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $553,000 after purchasing an additional 1,403 shares during the last quarter. Relyea Zuckerberg Hanson LLC boosted its position in Accenture by 5.5% during the fourth quarter. Relyea Zuckerberg Hanson LLC now owns 9,243 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $2,480,000 after purchasing an additional 478 shares during the period. Finally, American National Bank & Trust increased its holdings in shares of Accenture by 247.2% in the fourth quarter. American National Bank & Trust now owns 1,472 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $395,000 after purchasing an additional 1,048 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.14% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Accenture

In other Accenture news, CAO Melissa A. Burgum sold 3,588 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $281.01, for a total value of $1,008,263.88. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer owned 8,179 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,298,380.79. This trade represents a 30.49% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Julie Spellman Sweet sold 6,057 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $241.23, for a total transaction of $1,461,130.11. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 15,255 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,679,963.65. The trade was a 28.42% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold a total of 22,088 shares of company stock valued at $5,970,434 in the last three months. Insiders own 0.02% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently commented on ACN. Robert W. Baird decreased their target price on Accenture from $330.00 to $265.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, March 20th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on Accenture from $243.00 to $247.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, March 20th. Piper Sandler set a $282.00 price objective on Accenture in a report on Thursday, March 5th. Evercore reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $300.00 target price on shares of Accenture in a report on Thursday, December 18th. Finally, Truist Financial decreased their price target on shares of Accenture from $317.00 to $260.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, March 10th. Eighteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and ten have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $274.88.

Accenture Price Performance

Shares of ACN opened at $201.18 on Friday. The business has a 50-day moving average of $217.22 and a 200-day moving average of $243.19. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 1.34 and a quick ratio of 1.34. The company has a market capitalization of $133.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.48, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.91 and a beta of 1.24. Accenture PLC has a 1 year low of $187.00 and a 1 year high of $325.71.

Accenture (NYSE:ACN) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, March 20th. The information technology services provider reported $2.93 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.84 by $0.09. The firm had revenue of $18.04 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $17.80 billion. Accenture had a return on equity of 26.33% and a net margin of 10.61%.The business’s revenue was up 7.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $2.82 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Accenture PLC will post 12.73 earnings per share for the current year.

Accenture Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, April 9th will be given a dividend of $1.63 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 9th. This represents a $6.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.2%. Accenture’s payout ratio is presently 53.40%.

About Accenture

Accenture is a global professional services company that provides a broad range of services and solutions in strategy, consulting, digital, technology and operations. The firm works with organizations across industries to design and implement business transformation programs, deploy and manage enterprise technology, optimize operations, and develop customer and digital experiences. Its offerings encompass management and technology consulting, systems integration, application and infrastructure services, cloud migration and managed services, as well as security and analytics capabilities.

The company delivers industry- and function-specific solutions, combining consulting expertise with proprietary tools, platforms and partnerships with major technology vendors.