Accenture plc (NYSE:ACN) Stake Reduced by Provident Trust Co.

Provident Trust Co. decreased its stake in Accenture plc (NYSE:ACN) by 1.1% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 1,487,995 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock after selling 16,141 shares during the period. Accenture makes up 10.7% of Provident Trust Co.’s portfolio, making the stock its 4th biggest position. Provident Trust Co. owned 0.24% of Accenture worth $522,152,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the stock. Chilton Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Accenture by 180.0% during the fourth quarter. Chilton Capital Management LLC now owns 70 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 45 shares in the last quarter. BluePath Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in Accenture during the 3rd quarter worth $31,000. Halpern Financial Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Accenture in the 4th quarter worth about $31,000. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Accenture in the 4th quarter valued at about $50,000. Finally, Valley National Advisers Inc. lifted its position in shares of Accenture by 40.3% during the third quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. now owns 167 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $51,000 after purchasing an additional 48 shares during the last quarter. 75.14% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Accenture

In related news, insider Ellyn Shook sold 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $307.22, for a total value of $1,536,100.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 13,699 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,208,606.78. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, General Counsel Joel Unruch sold 4,333 shares of Accenture stock in a transaction dated Friday, April 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $316.12, for a total value of $1,369,747.96. Following the transaction, the general counsel now owns 30,702 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,705,516.24. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Ellyn Shook sold 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $307.22, for a total transaction of $1,536,100.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 13,699 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,208,606.78. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 32,490 shares of company stock valued at $10,592,664. 0.07% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Accenture Stock Performance

Shares of ACN stock traded down $0.99 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $308.01. 3,371,848 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,670,314. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $349.66 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $341.94. The company has a market cap of $206.59 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.92, a PEG ratio of 2.93 and a beta of 1.19. Accenture plc has a 12 month low of $261.68 and a 12 month high of $387.51.

Accenture (NYSE:ACN) last announced its 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 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 analysts’ expectations of $15.85 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $2.69 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down .1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Accenture plc will post 12.09 earnings per share for the current year.

Accenture Announces Dividend

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have issued reports on the company. Citigroup cut their price objective on Accenture from $430.00 to $400.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, March 22nd. Susquehanna restated a “neutral” rating and set a $360.00 price objective (down from $400.00) on shares of Accenture in a research note on Thursday, March 21st. Mizuho reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $398.00 target price (down previously from $426.00) on shares of Accenture in a research note on Friday, March 22nd. BMO Capital Markets reduced their price target on shares of Accenture from $385.00 to $375.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, March 22nd. Finally, Piper Sandler boosted 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 analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Accenture currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average 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.