Fisher Asset Management LLC Decreases Stock Position in Accenture plc (NYSE:ACN)

Fisher Asset Management LLC lessened its stake in Accenture plc (NYSE:ACN) by 1.8% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,958 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock after selling 53 shares during the quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Accenture were worth $1,038,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Chilton Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Accenture by 180.0% in the 4th quarter. Chilton Capital Management LLC now owns 70 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 45 shares in the last quarter. DiNuzzo Private Wealth Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Accenture in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Halpern Financial Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Accenture in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Pineridge Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Accenture in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Finally, Laffer Tengler Investments Inc. raised its position in shares of Accenture by 142.9% in the 4th quarter. Laffer Tengler Investments Inc. now owns 102 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $36,000 after purchasing an additional 60 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.14% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Accenture

In related news, insider Ellyn Shook sold 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $307.22, for a total transaction of $1,536,100.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 13,699 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,208,606.78. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In related news, CEO Jean-Marc Ollagnier sold 6,250 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, April 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $315.91, for a total value of $1,974,437.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 161,581 shares in the company, valued at approximately $51,045,053.71. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Ellyn Shook sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $307.22, for a total value of $1,536,100.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 13,699 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,208,606.78. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 28,083 shares of company stock valued at $8,959,325 over the last 90 days. 0.07% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have issued reports on ACN. Susquehanna cut their target price on Accenture from $360.00 to $350.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday. Mizuho dropped their price target on Accenture from $398.00 to $350.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, June 18th. TD Cowen dropped their price target on Accenture from $294.00 to $293.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday. Robert W. Baird dropped their price target on Accenture from $372.00 to $345.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, May 16th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price target on Accenture from $395.00 to $340.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, June 12th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $358.09.

Accenture Stock Performance

NYSE:ACN opened at $308.98 on Friday. Accenture plc has a 1 year low of $278.69 and a 1 year high of $387.51. The stock has a market cap of $207.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.29, a PEG ratio of 3.35 and a beta of 1.21. The business has a fifty day moving average of $301.15 and a 200-day moving average of $337.27.

Accenture (NYSE:ACN) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, June 20th. The information technology services provider reported $3.13 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $3.15 by ($0.02). Accenture had a net margin of 10.79% and a return on equity of 27.48%. The firm had revenue of $16.47 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $16.55 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $3.19 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was down .6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts predict that Accenture plc will post 12 EPS for the current year.

Accenture Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, July 11th will be paid a dividend of $1.29 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, July 11th. This represents a $5.16 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.67%. Accenture’s dividend payout ratio is currently 47.25%.

About Accenture

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.