Accenture plc (NYSE:ACN) Shares Acquired by Pathway Financial Advisers LLC

Pathway Financial Advisers LLC increased its holdings in Accenture plc (NYSE:ACN) by 3.2% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 1,685 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock after buying an additional 52 shares during the quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC’s holdings in Accenture were worth $593,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Morse Asset Management Inc purchased a new position in shares of Accenture during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $25,000. MidAtlantic Capital Management Inc. acquired a new position in Accenture during the third quarter worth $30,000. POM Investment Strategies LLC lifted its holdings in Accenture by 64.2% during the fourth quarter. POM Investment Strategies LLC now owns 87 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 34 shares in the last quarter. Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Accenture during the fourth quarter worth about $34,000. Finally, Mowery & Schoenfeld Wealth Management LLC raised its position in shares of Accenture by 607.1% during the 3rd quarter. Mowery & Schoenfeld Wealth Management LLC now owns 99 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 85 shares during the last quarter. 75.14% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Accenture Trading Down 0.3 %

NYSE:ACN opened at $388.85 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.47, a current ratio of 1.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17. The company has a market capitalization of $243.34 billion, a PE ratio of 32.62, a P/E/G ratio of 3.44 and a beta of 1.24. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $364.15 and its 200 day moving average price is $353.43. Accenture plc has a 52-week low of $278.69 and a 52-week high of $398.35.

Accenture (NYSE:ACN) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, December 19th. The information technology services provider reported $3.59 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.43 by $0.16. Accenture had a net margin of 11.41% and a return on equity of 26.91%. The business had revenue of $17.69 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $17.15 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $3.27 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 9.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts anticipate that Accenture plc will post 12.73 EPS for the current year.

Accenture Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 14th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, January 16th will be paid a $1.48 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, January 16th. This represents a $5.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.52%. Accenture’s dividend payout ratio is currently 49.66%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on ACN shares. BNP Paribas downgraded Accenture from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $375.00 target price on the stock. in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their target price on Accenture from $385.00 to $355.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on Accenture from $370.00 to $396.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, December 16th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on Accenture from $390.00 to $425.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, December 20th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on Accenture from $335.00 to $380.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Accenture currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $387.22.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Accenture news, CEO Julie Spellman Sweet sold 8,793 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $394.47, for a total transaction of $3,468,574.71. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 11,858 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,677,625.26. The trade was a 42.58 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CAO Melissa A. Burgum sold 1,487 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $354.54, for a total transaction of $527,200.98. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 9,247 shares in the company, valued at $3,278,431.38. The trade was a 13.85 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 22,280 shares of company stock worth $8,316,190. 0.02% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.