Bfsg LLC Sells 139 Shares of Accenture plc (NYSE:ACN)

Bfsg LLC lessened its position in shares of Accenture plc (NYSE:ACN) by 0.8% in the first quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 18,378 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock after selling 139 shares during the period. Bfsg LLC’s holdings in Accenture were worth $5,735,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in ACN. Robertson Stephens Wealth Management LLC increased its position in Accenture by 142.6% in the 1st quarter. Robertson Stephens Wealth Management LLC now owns 5,440 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $1,698,000 after acquiring an additional 3,198 shares during the period. Chicago Capital LLC boosted its stake in Accenture by 3.2% during the first quarter. Chicago Capital LLC now owns 12,187 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $3,803,000 after acquiring an additional 374 shares in the last quarter. Vivid Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Accenture during the first quarter worth $2,190,000. Inscription Capital LLC bought a new position in Accenture during the first quarter worth $2,628,000. Finally, Louisbourg Investments Inc. boosted its stake in Accenture by 24.1% during the first quarter. Louisbourg Investments Inc. now owns 10,985 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $3,428,000 after acquiring an additional 2,130 shares in the last quarter. 75.14% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at Accenture

In other Accenture news, CEO Julie Spellman Sweet sold 2,284 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, April 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $281.63, for a total value of $643,242.92. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 9,965 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,806,442.95. This represents a 18.65% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, COO John F. Walsh sold 2,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $325.00, for a total transaction of $812,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 15,882 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,161,650. The trade was a 13.60% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 8,516 shares of company stock worth $2,507,366 in the last three months. 0.02% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Piper Sandler dropped their price objective on shares of Accenture from $364.00 to $355.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 16th. UBS Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $395.00 price objective (up previously from $390.00) on shares of Accenture in a research report on Thursday, May 22nd. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price objective on shares of Accenture from $390.00 to $380.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 26th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on shares of Accenture from $349.00 to $353.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday. Finally, Robert W. Baird raised shares of Accenture from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $390.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Monday, March 17th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $380.00.

Accenture Price Performance

ACN stock opened at $314.12 on Tuesday. Accenture plc has a one year low of $275.01 and a one year high of $398.35. The stock has a market cap of $196.74 billion, a PE ratio of 26.35, a P/E/G ratio of 3.23 and a beta of 1.33. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $306.16 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $335.06. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17, a current ratio of 1.47 and a quick ratio of 1.47.

Accenture (NYSE:ACN) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 20th. The information technology services provider reported $2.82 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.81 by $0.01. Accenture had a net margin of 11.41% and a return on equity of 26.91%. The company had revenue of $16.70 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $16.64 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $2.77 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 5.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts predict that Accenture plc will post 12.73 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Accenture Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, April 10th were issued a dividend of $1.48 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, April 10th. This represents a $5.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.88%. Accenture’s dividend payout ratio is currently 48.89%.

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.