Whittier Trust Co. Cuts Stock Position in Accenture plc (NYSE:ACN)

Whittier Trust Co. lessened its holdings in Accenture plc (NYSE:ACN) by 71.7% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 28,048 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock after selling 71,230 shares during the period. Whittier Trust Co.’s holdings in Accenture were worth $8,510,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Accenture by 1.1% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 59,718,732 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $20,699,110,000 after acquiring an additional 635,349 shares during the period. Capital Research Global Investors increased its stake in Accenture by 2.0% during the 1st quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 8,652,537 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $2,999,056,000 after buying an additional 173,107 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Accenture during the 4th quarter worth $2,061,490,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in Accenture by 1.6% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 4,466,684 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $1,556,676,000 after buying an additional 68,635 shares during the period. Finally, Lazard Asset Management LLC increased its stake in Accenture by 4.1% during the 1st quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 3,797,028 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $1,316,086,000 after buying an additional 148,738 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.14% of the company’s stock.

Accenture Stock Performance

Shares of ACN stock traded up $5.41 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $342.80. 387,494 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,807,820. Accenture plc has a 12 month low of $278.69 and a 12 month high of $387.51. The company has a market cap of $214.83 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.31, a PEG ratio of 3.66 and a beta of 1.23. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $317.60 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $325.51.

Accenture (NYSE:ACN) last released its earnings results on Thursday, June 20th. The information technology services provider reported $3.13 EPS 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $16.55 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $3.19 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down .6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Accenture plc will post 11.95 earnings per share for the current year.

Accenture Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, July 11th were issued a $1.29 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, July 11th. This represents a $5.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.51%. Accenture’s payout ratio is currently 47.25%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ACN has been the topic of several analyst reports. Robert W. Baird dropped their price target on shares of Accenture from $372.00 to $345.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, May 16th. The Goldman Sachs Group started coverage on shares of Accenture in a report on Monday, June 24th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $335.00 price objective for the company. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price objective on shares of Accenture from $395.00 to $340.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, June 12th. Morgan Stanley lowered shares of Accenture from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and decreased their price objective for the stock from $382.00 to $300.00 in a report on Wednesday, June 26th. Finally, Barclays decreased their price objective on shares of Accenture from $390.00 to $350.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, June 17th. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Accenture presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $352.33.

Insider Transactions at Accenture

In other news, General Counsel Joel Unruch sold 8,145 shares of Accenture stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $331.05, for a total value of $2,696,402.25. Following the transaction, the general counsel now directly owns 22,849 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,564,161.45. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In related news, CFO Kathleen R. Mcclure sold 1,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $315.00, for a total transaction of $472,500.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 38,570 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $12,149,550. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, General Counsel Joel Unruch sold 8,145 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $331.05, for a total transaction of $2,696,402.25. Following the completion of the sale, the general counsel now directly owns 22,849 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,564,161.45. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 21,421 shares of company stock valued at $6,912,635 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.07% of the company’s stock.

Accenture Company 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.