Accenture plc (NYSE:ACN) Shares Sold by Handelsinvest Investeringsforvaltning

Handelsinvest Investeringsforvaltning cut its stake in Accenture plc (NYSE:ACN) by 17.0% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 5,202 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock after selling 1,063 shares during the period. Accenture accounts for 0.9% of Handelsinvest Investeringsforvaltning’s portfolio, making the stock its 21st largest position. Handelsinvest Investeringsforvaltning’s holdings in Accenture were worth $1,803,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Chilton Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Accenture by 180.0% during the fourth 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 during the last quarter. DiNuzzo Private Wealth Inc. bought a new stake in Accenture during the fourth quarter valued at $27,000. Annapolis Financial Services LLC increased its stake in Accenture by 507.7% during the first 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 during the last quarter. Ables Iannone Moore & Associates Inc. bought a new stake in Accenture during the fourth quarter valued at $29,000. Finally, Atwood & Palmer Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Accenture by 214.8% during the first quarter. Atwood & Palmer Inc. now owns 85 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 58 shares during the last quarter. 75.14% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In other news, General Counsel Joel Unruch sold 4,333 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, April 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $316.12, for a total value of $1,369,747.96. Following the completion of the sale, the general counsel now owns 30,702 shares in the company, valued at $9,705,516.24. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available 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 stock was sold at an average price of $316.12, for a total value of $1,369,747.96. Following the completion of the sale, the general counsel now owns 30,702 shares in the company, valued at $9,705,516.24. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through 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 sale, 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. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 20,083 shares of company stock worth $6,302,285. Insiders own 0.07% of the company’s stock.

Accenture Price Performance

ACN opened at $304.83 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $191.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.82, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.38 and a beta of 1.23. Accenture plc has a 1-year low of $278.69 and a 1-year high of $387.51. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $299.86 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $335.76.

Accenture (NYSE:ACN) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, June 20th. The information technology services provider reported $3.13 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.15 by ($0.02). Accenture had a net margin of 10.79% and a return on equity of 27.48%. The company had revenue of $16.47 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.55 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $3.19 EPS. Accenture’s revenue was down .6% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts expect that Accenture plc will post 11.95 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Accenture Dividend Announcement

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

ACN has been the subject of several recent research reports. TD Cowen lowered their target price on Accenture from $294.00 to $293.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Friday, June 21st. Piper Sandler Companies lowered their target price on Accenture from $379.00 to $320.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday, June 17th. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their target price on Accenture from $340.00 to $275.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, June 5th. StockNews.com lowered Accenture from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, April 27th. Finally, Citigroup lowered their target price on Accenture from $430.00 to $400.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, March 22nd. Twelve investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average 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.