Accenture plc (NYSE:ACN) Shares Purchased by Raymond James & Associates

Raymond James & Associates raised its holdings in Accenture plc (NYSE:ACN) by 2.0% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 1,111,476 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock after buying an additional 22,150 shares during the quarter. Raymond James & Associates owned approximately 0.17% of Accenture worth $385,248,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Lakewood Asset Management LLC grew its stake in Accenture by 8.4% during the first quarter. Lakewood Asset Management LLC now owns 2,709 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $939,000 after buying an additional 210 shares during the period. Westbourne Investment Advisors Inc. raised its stake in shares of Accenture by 1.2% in the 1st quarter. Westbourne Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 17,755 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $6,154,000 after purchasing an additional 213 shares in the last quarter. Berry Wealth Group LP bought a new position in shares of Accenture during the first quarter worth about $234,000. Edge Financial Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Accenture in the first quarter valued at about $1,734,000. Finally, Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC lifted its holdings in Accenture by 9.6% during the 1st quarter. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC now owns 21,174 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $7,339,000 after buying an additional 1,856 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.14% of the company’s stock.

Accenture Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:ACN traded down $0.99 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $308.01. The stock had a trading volume of 3,371,848 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,670,314. Accenture plc has a 12-month low of $261.68 and a 12-month high of $387.51. The company has a market cap of $206.59 billion, a PE ratio of 27.92, a P/E/G ratio of 2.93 and a beta of 1.19. The company’s 50 day moving average is $349.66 and its 200-day moving average is $341.94.

Accenture (NYSE:ACN) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 21st. The information technology services provider reported $2.77 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.66 by $0.11. Accenture had a net margin of 10.89% and a return on equity of 28.30%. The business had revenue of $15.80 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $15.85 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $2.69 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down .1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts predict that Accenture plc will post 12.09 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Accenture Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 11th will be paid a dividend of $1.29 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, April 10th. This represents a $5.16 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.68%. Accenture’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 46.78%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CFO Kathleen R. Mcclure sold 851 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $371.77, for a total transaction of $316,376.27. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 50,737 shares in the company, valued at approximately $18,862,494.49. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In related news, CFO Kathleen R. Mcclure sold 851 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, January 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $371.77, for a total value of $316,376.27. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 50,737 shares in the company, valued at approximately $18,862,494.49. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Ellyn Shook sold 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $307.22, for a total transaction of $1,536,100.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 13,699 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,208,606.78. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 32,490 shares of company stock worth $10,592,664. Corporate insiders own 0.07% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ACN has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. UBS Group raised their target price on shares of Accenture from $365.00 to $400.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, January 25th. Robert W. Baird upped their price objective on Accenture from $364.00 to $375.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 7th. Citigroup cut their target price on Accenture from $430.00 to $400.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, March 22nd. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of Accenture from $400.00 to $417.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, March 18th. Finally, Piper Sandler lifted their price objective on shares of Accenture from $335.00 to $394.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, March 18th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $387.00.

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.