Accenture plc (NYSE:ACN) Shares Sold by Westside Investment Management Inc.

Westside Investment Management Inc. lowered its position in Accenture plc (NYSE:ACN) by 34.7% during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 160 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock after selling 85 shares during the quarter. Westside Investment Management Inc.’s holdings in Accenture were worth $55,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of ACN. Chilton Capital Management LLC raised its stake 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 stake in shares of Accenture in the 4th quarter valued at about $27,000. Annapolis Financial Services LLC raised its stake in shares of Accenture by 507.7% in the 1st quarter. Annapolis Financial Services LLC now owns 79 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 66 shares in the last quarter. Ables Iannone Moore & Associates Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Accenture in the 4th quarter valued at about $29,000. Finally, Atwood & Palmer Inc. grew its position in shares of Accenture by 214.8% during the 1st quarter. Atwood & Palmer Inc. now owns 85 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 58 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.14% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, 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 transaction of $1,536,100.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 13,699 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,208,606.78. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, General Counsel Joel Unruch sold 4,333 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, April 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $316.12, for a total transaction of $1,369,747.96. Following the transaction, the general counsel now owns 30,702 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,705,516.24. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Ellyn Shook sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, the insider now owns 13,699 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,208,606.78. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 20,083 shares of company stock worth $6,302,285 in the last quarter. 0.07% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Accenture Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:ACN opened at $305.75 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $191.61 billion, a PE ratio of 28.00, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.39 and a beta of 1.23. Accenture plc has a 52 week low of $278.69 and a 52 week high of $387.51. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $299.45 and a 200 day simple moving average of $335.28.

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 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 company had revenue of $16.47 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $16.55 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $3.19 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down .6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts predict that Accenture plc will post 11.95 earnings per share for the current year.

Accenture Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, July 11th will be given a $1.29 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, July 11th. This represents a $5.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.69%. Accenture’s payout ratio is 47.25%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Citigroup lowered their price objective on shares of Accenture from $430.00 to $400.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, March 22nd. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their target price on shares of Accenture from $395.00 to $340.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, June 12th. Barclays decreased their target price on shares of Accenture from $390.00 to $350.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, June 17th. Mizuho decreased their price objective on shares of Accenture from $398.00 to $350.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, June 18th. Finally, Robert W. Baird decreased their price objective on shares of Accenture from $372.00 to $345.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, May 16th. Twelve research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Accenture currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $352.74.

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.