Accenture plc (NYSE:ACN) Holdings Lowered by Nicollet Investment Management Inc.

Nicollet Investment Management Inc. decreased its position in Accenture plc (NYSE:ACN) by 1.5% in the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 13,281 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock after selling 203 shares during the period. Accenture makes up about 1.5% of Nicollet Investment Management Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 25th largest position. Nicollet Investment Management Inc.’s holdings in Accenture were worth $4,030,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings 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 worth $20,699,110,000 after acquiring an additional 635,349 shares during the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors boosted its position in shares of Accenture by 2.0% in the 1st quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 8,652,537 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $2,999,056,000 after purchasing an additional 173,107 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Accenture during the 4th quarter worth about $2,061,490,000. Lazard Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in Accenture by 4.1% during the first quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 3,797,028 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $1,316,086,000 after buying an additional 148,738 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of Accenture by 6.2% in the first quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 3,044,810 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $1,055,362,000 after buying an additional 178,003 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 75.14% of the company’s stock.

Accenture Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:ACN opened at $347.84 on Wednesday. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $325.30 and its 200-day moving average is $323.63. The company has a market cap of $217.99 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.85, a P/E/G ratio of 3.60 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 issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, June 20th. The information technology services provider reported $3.13 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate 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 period in the prior year, the firm earned $3.19 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was down .6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts predict that Accenture plc will post 11.95 EPS for the current year.

Accenture Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, July 11th were given a $1.29 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, July 11th. This represents a $5.16 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.48%. Accenture’s dividend payout ratio is 47.25%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts recently commented on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group assumed coverage on shares of Accenture in a research report on Monday, June 24th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $335.00 price target for the company. Piper Sandler Companies reduced their target price on Accenture from $379.00 to $320.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday, June 17th. Guggenheim reissued a “buy” rating and set a $395.00 price target on shares of Accenture in a research report on Friday, May 24th. BMO Capital Markets decreased their price objective on Accenture from $375.00 to $350.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, June 21st. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group dropped their target price on Accenture from $340.00 to $275.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, June 5th. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $353.41.

Insider Transactions at Accenture

In related news, insider Ellyn Shook sold 5,000 shares of Accenture stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $329.82, for a total transaction of $1,649,100.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 8,989 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,964,751.98. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In related news, General Counsel Joel Unruch sold 8,145 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the general counsel now 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. Also, insider Ellyn Shook sold 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $329.82, for a total transaction of $1,649,100.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 8,989 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,964,751.98. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 21,421 shares of company stock worth $6,912,635. 0.07% of the stock is currently owned by company 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.