First Western Trust Bank Sells 4,477 Shares of Accenture plc (NYSE:ACN)

First Western Trust Bank reduced its stake in Accenture plc (NYSE:ACN) by 15.5% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 24,316 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock after selling 4,477 shares during the quarter. Accenture makes up approximately 0.4% of First Western Trust Bank’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 22nd biggest position. First Western Trust Bank’s holdings in Accenture were worth $7,378,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Unique Wealth Strategies LLC purchased a new position in shares of Accenture during the 2nd quarter valued at about $26,000. Annapolis Financial Services LLC raised its stake in Accenture by 507.7% during the 1st quarter. Annapolis Financial Services LLC now owns 79 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $27,000 after acquiring an additional 66 shares during the period. Ables Iannone Moore & Associates Inc. bought a new position in shares of Accenture in the fourth quarter worth approximately $29,000. Atwood & Palmer Inc. increased its stake in shares of Accenture by 214.8% in the first quarter. Atwood & Palmer Inc. now owns 85 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 58 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Grayhawk Investment Strategies Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Accenture during the 4th quarter valued at $35,000. 75.14% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Accenture news, insider Ellyn Shook sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $329.82, for a total value of $1,649,100.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 8,989 shares in the company, valued at $2,964,751.98. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other Accenture news, insider Ellyn Shook sold 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $329.82, for a total value of $1,649,100.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 8,989 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,964,751.98. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Kathleen R. Mcclure sold 3,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $309.22, for a total transaction of $927,660.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 40,070 shares in the company, valued at $12,390,445.40. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 21,421 shares of company stock valued at $6,912,635. Insiders own 0.07% of the company’s stock.

Accenture Stock Down 0.9 %

Shares of ACN opened at $340.99 on Friday. The business has a fifty day moving average of $322.91 and a 200 day moving average of $324.78. The company has a market cap of $213.70 billion, a PE ratio of 31.23, a P/E/G ratio of 3.81 and a beta of 1.24. Accenture plc has a 52-week low of $278.69 and a 52-week high of $387.51.

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

Accenture Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 15th. Stockholders 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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.51%. Accenture’s payout ratio is 47.25%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have commented on the company. Guggenheim reissued a “buy” rating and set a $395.00 price target on shares of Accenture in a report on Friday, May 24th. Barclays decreased their target price on Accenture from $390.00 to $350.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, June 17th. Susquehanna dropped their price target on Accenture from $360.00 to $350.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, June 21st. Piper Sandler Companies lowered their target price on shares of Accenture from $379.00 to $320.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, June 17th. Finally, Robert W. Baird decreased 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. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $352.33.

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.