KFG Wealth Management LLC Sells 72 Shares of Accenture plc (NYSE:ACN)

KFG Wealth Management LLC lowered its position in Accenture plc (NYSE:ACN) by 5.2% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 1,310 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock after selling 72 shares during the period. KFG Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Accenture were worth $460,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. United Bank increased its position in Accenture by 6.3% in the first quarter. United Bank now owns 2,969 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $1,001,000 after buying an additional 176 shares during the last quarter. Weitz Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Accenture by 1.3% in the first quarter. Weitz Investment Management Inc. now owns 89,400 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $30,148,000 after acquiring an additional 1,168 shares during the period. Fund Management at Engine No. 1 LLC bought a new position in shares of Accenture in the first quarter worth $1,805,000. Guardian Wealth Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Accenture by 0.6% in the first quarter. Guardian Wealth Management Inc. now owns 7,292 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $2,459,000 after acquiring an additional 41 shares during the period. Finally, Clearbridge Investments LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Accenture by 104.8% in the first quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 441,451 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $148,871,000 after acquiring an additional 225,943 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 75.14% of the company’s stock.

Accenture Price Performance

NYSE:ACN traded up $0.88 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $316.88. 3,381,158 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,390,528. Accenture plc has a 12-month low of $261.68 and a 12-month high of $387.51. The firm has a market capitalization of $212.54 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.72, a PEG ratio of 2.98 and a beta of 1.19. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $356.30 and a 200-day moving average price of $341.77.

Accenture (NYSE:ACN) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, March 21st. The information technology services provider reported $2.77 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.66 by $0.11. Accenture had a return on equity of 28.30% and a net margin of 10.89%. The firm had revenue of $15.80 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $15.85 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $2.69 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down .1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts forecast that Accenture plc will post 12.09 EPS for the current year.

Accenture Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 11th will be issued a dividend of $1.29 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, April 10th. This represents a $5.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.63%. Accenture’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 46.78%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ACN has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Bank of America lifted their price objective on Accenture from $379.00 to $419.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 7th. TD Cowen dropped their price target on Accenture from $363.00 to $350.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, March 22nd. Susquehanna reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $360.00 price target (down previously from $400.00) on shares of Accenture in a research note on Thursday, March 21st. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price target on Accenture from $374.00 to $381.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, March 22nd. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on Accenture from $400.00 to $417.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, March 18th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $387.00.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Accenture news, General Counsel Joel Unruch sold 4,333 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $371.83, for a total transaction of $1,611,139.39. Following the transaction, the general counsel now owns 34,795 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,937,824.85. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other Accenture news, COO John F. Walsh sold 8,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $332.13, for a total transaction of $2,657,040.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 17,877 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,937,488.01. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, General Counsel Joel Unruch sold 4,333 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, January 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $371.83, for a total transaction of $1,611,139.39. Following the sale, the general counsel now owns 34,795 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $12,937,824.85. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 35,500 shares of company stock worth $12,276,123. Company insiders own 0.07% of the company’s stock.

About Accenture

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.