abrdn plc Cuts Stock Position in Accenture plc (NYSE:ACN)

abrdn plc decreased its stake in shares of Accenture plc (NYSE:ACN) by 27.6% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 767,038 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock after selling 292,440 shares during the quarter. Accenture accounts for about 0.6% of abrdn plc’s holdings, making the stock its 27th biggest position. abrdn plc’s holdings in Accenture were worth $269,161,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Chilton Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Accenture by 180.0% in the 4th quarter. Chilton Capital Management LLC now owns 70 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 45 shares in the last quarter. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL bought a new position in shares of Accenture in the first quarter worth approximately $28,000. BluePath Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Accenture during the third quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Halpern Financial Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Accenture during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Finally, RVW Wealth LLC purchased a new position in Accenture in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $33,000. 75.14% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Accenture

In related news, General Counsel Joel Unruch sold 4,333 shares of Accenture stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $371.83, for a total value of $1,611,139.39. Following the completion of the transaction, the general counsel now owns 34,795 shares in the company, valued at $12,937,824.85. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In other Accenture news, General Counsel Joel Unruch sold 4,333 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, January 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $371.83, for a total transaction of $1,611,139.39. Following the transaction, the general counsel now owns 34,795 shares in the company, valued at $12,937,824.85. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, COO John F. Walsh sold 8,000 shares of Accenture stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $332.13, for a total transaction of $2,657,040.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 17,877 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,937,488.01. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 35,500 shares of company stock valued at $12,276,123. 0.07% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Accenture Price Performance

Shares of NYSE ACN traded up $0.88 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $316.88. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 3,381,612 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,947,733. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $355.21 and a two-hundred day moving average of $341.83. The firm has a market capitalization of $212.54 billion, a PE ratio of 28.73, a P/E/G ratio of 3.00 and a beta of 1.19. Accenture plc has a 52 week low of $261.68 and a 52 week high of $387.51.

Accenture (NYSE:ACN) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, March 21st. The information technology services provider reported $2.77 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.66 by $0.11. The firm had revenue of $15.80 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $15.85 billion. Accenture had a net margin of 10.89% and a return on equity of 28.30%. Accenture’s revenue for the quarter was down .1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $2.69 earnings per share. Analysts anticipate 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 given a $1.29 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, April 10th. This represents a $5.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.63%. Accenture’s dividend payout ratio is currently 46.78%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have commented on ACN shares. Citigroup reduced 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. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on shares of Accenture from $400.00 to $417.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, March 18th. BNP Paribas upgraded shares of Accenture from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $440.00 price target for the company in a research note on Wednesday, January 17th. Susquehanna restated a “neutral” rating and set a $360.00 price objective (down previously from $400.00) on shares of Accenture in a research report on Thursday, March 21st. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on Accenture from $374.00 to $381.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, March 22nd. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $387.00.

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.