Verity & Verity LLC Trims Position in Accenture plc (NYSE:ACN)

Verity & Verity LLC decreased its position in shares of Accenture plc (NYSE:ACN – Get Rating) by 5.0% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 5,036 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock after selling 267 shares during the period. Verity & Verity LLC’s holdings in Accenture were worth $1,344,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of ACN. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its stake in shares of Accenture by 33.6% during the second quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 8,858,899 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $2,459,673,000 after buying an additional 2,228,802 shares during the period. Mitsubishi UFJ Kokusai Asset Management Co. Ltd. raised its stake in Accenture by 502.3% during the third quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Kokusai Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 2,191,413 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $563,851,000 after purchasing an additional 1,827,551 shares during the period. UBS Asset Management Americas Inc. raised its stake in Accenture by 41.6% during the third quarter. UBS Asset Management Americas Inc. now owns 5,457,405 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $1,404,190,000 after purchasing an additional 1,603,071 shares during the period. GQG Partners LLC purchased a new position in Accenture during the second quarter worth approximately $373,981,000. Finally, Renaissance Technologies LLC purchased a new position in Accenture during the third quarter worth approximately $318,306,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 73.97% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Accenture news, CAO Melissa A. Burgum sold 1,027 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, January 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $280.99, for a total transaction of $288,576.73. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 11,467 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,222,112.33. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In other Accenture news, CEO Julie Spellman Sweet sold 10,296 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, January 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $280.93, for a total transaction of $2,892,455.28. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 44,158 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $12,405,306.94. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Melissa A. Burgum sold 1,027 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, January 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $280.99, for a total transaction of $288,576.73. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 11,467 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,222,112.33. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 39,015 shares of company stock valued at $10,884,179 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.08% of the company’s stock.

Accenture Trading Down 1.2 %

ACN opened at $250.00 on Friday. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $273.70 and a 200 day simple moving average of $275.04. The firm has a market cap of $157.56 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.71, a PEG ratio of 2.33 and a beta of 1.25. Accenture plc has a twelve month low of $242.80 and a twelve month high of $345.30.

Accenture (NYSE:ACN – Get Rating) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, December 16th. The information technology services provider reported $3.08 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.91 by $0.17. The business had revenue of $15.75 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $15.58 billion. Accenture had a net margin of 11.31% and a return on equity of 31.49%. On average, analysts forecast that Accenture plc will post 11.44 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have weighed in on ACN. Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $300.00 price target on shares of Accenture in a research note on Monday, March 13th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of Accenture from $306.00 to $327.00 in a research note on Thursday, December 15th. Robert W. Baird cut their target price on shares of Accenture from $310.00 to $290.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, December 19th. Citigroup cut their target price on shares of Accenture from $305.00 to $300.00 in a research note on Thursday. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company initiated coverage on shares of Accenture in a research note on Monday, January 30th. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $289.00 target price on the stock. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $316.50.

Accenture Profile

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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.