Norden Group LLC Cuts Stock Position in Accenture plc (NYSE:ACN)

Norden Group LLC lessened its holdings in Accenture plc (NYSE:ACN) by 17.3% in the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 9,799 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock after selling 2,050 shares during the period. Norden Group LLC’s holdings in Accenture were worth $2,973,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of ACN. Fisher Asset Management LLC increased its stake in Accenture by 14.3% in the 4th quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 3,442 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $1,208,000 after buying an additional 431 shares in the last quarter. Accretive Wealth Partners LLC grew its position in shares of Accenture by 2.3% during the fourth quarter. Accretive Wealth Partners LLC now owns 2,171 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $762,000 after purchasing an additional 48 shares in the last quarter. Aveo Capital Partners LLC grew its position in shares of Accenture by 7.6% during the fourth quarter. Aveo Capital Partners LLC now owns 2,264 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $794,000 after purchasing an additional 160 shares in the last quarter. 9258 Wealth Management LLC grew its position in shares of Accenture by 3.6% during the fourth quarter. 9258 Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,308 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $459,000 after purchasing an additional 46 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wealthcare Advisory Partners LLC grew its position in shares of Accenture by 12.6% during the fourth quarter. Wealthcare Advisory Partners LLC now owns 1,393 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $489,000 after purchasing an additional 156 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.14% of the company’s stock.

Accenture Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:ACN traded down $1.09 during trading on Friday, reaching $339.84. 1,613,563 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,781,811. The firm has a market capitalization of $212.98 billion, a PE ratio of 31.12, a P/E/G ratio of 3.81 and a beta of 1.24. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $323.63 and its 200-day simple moving average is $324.57. Accenture plc has a 12-month low of $278.69 and a 12-month high of $387.51.

Accenture (NYSE:ACN) last issued its earnings results 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). The company had revenue of $16.47 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $16.55 billion. Accenture had a return on equity of 27.48% and a net margin of 10.79%. The business’s revenue was down .6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $3.19 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Accenture plc will post 11.95 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Accenture Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, July 11th were given a dividend of $1.29 per share. This represents a $5.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.52%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, July 11th. Accenture’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 47.25%.

Insider Activity at Accenture

In related news, CEO Julie Spellman Sweet sold 3,776 shares of Accenture stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $309.05, for a total transaction of $1,166,972.80. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 11,819 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,652,661.95. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In related news, CEO Julie Spellman Sweet sold 3,776 shares of Accenture stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $309.05, for a total transaction of $1,166,972.80. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 11,819 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,652,661.95. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CFO Kathleen R. Mcclure sold 3,000 shares of Accenture stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $309.22, for a total transaction of $927,660.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 40,070 shares in the company, valued at $12,390,445.40. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 21,421 shares of company stock valued at $6,912,635 over the last ninety days. 0.07% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on ACN shares. BMO Capital Markets cut their price objective on Accenture from $375.00 to $350.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, June 21st. Bank of America lowered their price target on shares of Accenture from $419.00 to $365.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, June 5th. TD Cowen lowered their price target on shares of Accenture from $294.00 to $293.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Friday, June 21st. Susquehanna lowered their price target on shares of Accenture from $360.00 to $350.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Friday, June 21st. Finally, Robert W. Baird lowered their price target 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. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $353.41.

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.