Accenture plc (NYSE:ACN) Shares Sold by FORVIS Wealth Advisors LLC

FORVIS Wealth Advisors LLC lessened its position in shares of Accenture plc (NYSE:ACN) by 2.4% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 12,310 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock after selling 298 shares during the period. FORVIS Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in Accenture were worth $4,267,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in ACN. Chilton Capital Management LLC increased its position in Accenture by 180.0% during the 4th quarter. Chilton Capital Management LLC now owns 70 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 45 shares in the last quarter. DiNuzzo Private Wealth Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Accenture in the fourth quarter worth $27,000. Annapolis Financial Services LLC raised its stake in shares of Accenture by 507.7% in the 1st quarter. Annapolis Financial Services LLC now owns 79 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $27,000 after acquiring an additional 66 shares during the period. Ables Iannone Moore & Associates Inc. purchased a new stake in Accenture during the 4th quarter worth $29,000. Finally, Atwood & Palmer Inc. increased its holdings in Accenture by 214.8% in the 1st quarter. Atwood & Palmer Inc. now owns 85 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 58 shares in the last quarter. 75.14% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ACN has been the subject of several analyst reports. Guggenheim reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $395.00 target price on shares of Accenture in a research report on Friday, May 24th. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their price target on Accenture from $340.00 to $275.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, June 5th. Barclays dropped their price objective on shares of Accenture from $390.00 to $350.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, June 17th. Morgan Stanley lowered shares of Accenture from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and lowered their price target for the company from $382.00 to $300.00 in a report on Wednesday, June 26th. Finally, Susquehanna cut their price objective on shares of Accenture from $360.00 to $350.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, June 21st. Twelve analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $352.74.

Accenture Price Performance

Shares of ACN stock traded up $1.92 on Thursday, hitting $305.75. 1,751,215 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 4,312,141. The company’s fifty day moving average is $299.45 and its 200 day moving average is $335.28. Accenture plc has a 1-year low of $278.69 and a 1-year high of $387.51. The company has a market capitalization of $191.61 billion, a PE ratio of 28.00, a PEG ratio of 3.39 and a beta of 1.23.

Accenture (NYSE:ACN) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, June 20th. The information technology services provider reported $3.13 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.15 by ($0.02). Accenture had a return on equity of 27.48% and a net margin of 10.79%. The business had revenue of $16.47 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.55 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $3.19 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down .6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Accenture plc will post 11.95 EPS for the current year.

Accenture Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, July 11th will be paid a $1.29 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, July 11th. This represents a $5.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.69%. Accenture’s payout ratio is currently 47.25%.

Insider Activity

In other Accenture news, General Counsel Joel Unruch sold 4,333 shares of the stock in a transaction on 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 sale, the general counsel now directly owns 30,702 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,705,516.24. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In other Accenture news, General Counsel Joel Unruch sold 4,333 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, April 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $316.12, for a total value of $1,369,747.96. Following the sale, the general counsel now owns 30,702 shares in the company, valued at $9,705,516.24. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CFO Kathleen R. Mcclure sold 4,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, April 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $316.00, for a total value of $1,422,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 42,781 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $13,518,796. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 20,083 shares of company stock valued at $6,302,285. 0.07% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Accenture Profile

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.