Chapman Investment Management LLC Has $6.37 Million Position in Accenture plc (NYSE:ACN)

Chapman Investment Management LLC decreased its position in shares of Accenture plc (NYSE:ACN) by 12.8% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 18,154 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock after selling 2,672 shares during the quarter. Accenture accounts for approximately 4.9% of Chapman Investment Management LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 10th largest position. Chapman Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Accenture were worth $6,370,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Callan Capital LLC lifted its position in Accenture by 13.4% during the fourth quarter. Callan Capital LLC now owns 1,294 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $454,000 after purchasing an additional 153 shares during the period. Bryn Mawr Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Accenture by 93.7% during the fourth quarter. Bryn Mawr Capital Management LLC now owns 35,163 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $12,339,000 after acquiring an additional 17,008 shares in the last quarter. Evolution Advisers Inc. raised its stake in Accenture by 71.2% during the fourth quarter. Evolution Advisers Inc. now owns 214 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $74,000 after acquiring an additional 89 shares in the last quarter. VCI Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Accenture during the fourth quarter worth about $1,460,000. Finally, Abbrea Capital LLC raised its stake in Accenture by 1.9% during the fourth quarter. Abbrea Capital LLC now owns 4,110 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $1,442,000 after acquiring an additional 75 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 75.14% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Accenture news, insider Ellyn Shook sold 5,000 shares of the firm’s 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 directly 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 available through this hyperlink. In other news, CEO Manish Sharma sold 1,486 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $370.39, for a total transaction of $550,399.54. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 4,503 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,667,866.17. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Ellyn Shook sold 5,000 shares of the firm’s 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 sale, the insider now directly owns 13,699 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,208,606.78. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 32,490 shares of company stock worth $10,592,664 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.07% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have commented on ACN. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their target price on Accenture from $374.00 to $381.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, March 22nd. StockNews.com downgraded Accenture from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday. Bank of America upped their price objective on Accenture from $379.00 to $419.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 7th. UBS Group upped their price objective on Accenture from $365.00 to $400.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 25th. Finally, Redburn Atlantic upped their price objective on Accenture from $410.00 to $445.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 19th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Accenture presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $387.00.

Accenture Stock Performance

Shares of Accenture stock traded down $0.99 on Friday, reaching $308.01. 3,371,848 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,670,314. The company has a market capitalization of $206.59 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.92, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.93 and a beta of 1.19. Accenture plc has a 52 week low of $261.68 and a 52 week high of $387.51. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $349.66 and its two-hundred day moving average is $341.94.

Accenture (NYSE:ACN) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 21st. The information technology services provider reported $2.77 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.66 by $0.11. The firm had revenue of $15.80 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $15.85 billion. Accenture had a return on equity of 28.30% and a net margin of 10.89%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down .1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $2.69 EPS. On average, analysts expect that Accenture plc will post 12.09 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Accenture Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, April 11th will be issued a $1.29 dividend. This represents a $5.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.68%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, April 10th. Accenture’s dividend payout ratio is currently 46.78%.

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.