Penobscot Investment Management Company Inc. Increases Stake in Accenture plc (NYSE:ACN)

Penobscot Investment Management Company Inc. boosted its position in Accenture plc (NYSE:ACN) by 1.6% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 34,877 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 564 shares during the quarter. Accenture accounts for about 1.4% of Penobscot Investment Management Company Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 16th biggest holding. Penobscot Investment Management Company Inc.’s holdings in Accenture were worth $12,239,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in ACN. Chilton Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Accenture by 180.0% in the fourth quarter. Chilton Capital Management LLC now owns 70 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 45 shares during the last quarter. BluePath Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Accenture during the 3rd quarter worth about $31,000. Halpern Financial Inc. acquired a new position in Accenture in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Accenture during the fourth quarter worth approximately $50,000. Finally, Valley National Advisers Inc. lifted its position in shares of Accenture by 40.3% during the 3rd quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. now owns 167 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $51,000 after buying an additional 48 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.14% of the company’s stock.

Accenture Stock Down 0.7 %

Shares of ACN traded down $2.17 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $300.99. 1,706,152 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,452,288. The company has a market cap of $201.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.27, a PEG ratio of 2.92 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 company has a 50-day simple moving average of $348.33 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $342.34.

Accenture (NYSE:ACN) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 21st. The information technology services provider reported $2.77 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.66 by $0.11. The business had revenue of $15.80 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $15.85 billion. Accenture had a net margin of 10.89% and a return on equity of 28.30%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down .1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.69 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts predict 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 yield of 1.71%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, April 10th. Accenture’s payout ratio is currently 46.78%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

ACN has been the subject of a number of research reports. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price target on shares of Accenture from $374.00 to $381.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, March 22nd. StockNews.com downgraded Accenture from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday. Redburn Atlantic raised their price target on Accenture from $410.00 to $445.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 19th. BMO Capital Markets decreased their price objective on Accenture from $385.00 to $375.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, March 22nd. Finally, Mizuho reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $398.00 price target (down previously from $426.00) on shares of Accenture in a research report on Friday, March 22nd. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Accenture currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $387.00.

Insider Activity

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 value of $1,536,100.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 13,699 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,208,606.78. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In other news, CEO Manish Sharma sold 1,486 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 in the company, valued at $1,667,866.17. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Ellyn Shook sold 5,000 shares of Accenture stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $307.22, for a total value of $1,536,100.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 13,699 shares in the company, valued at $4,208,606.78. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 31,639 shares of company stock valued at $10,276,287 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.07% of the company’s stock.

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.