Optimum Investment Advisors Trims Stake in Accenture plc (NYSE:ACN)

Optimum Investment Advisors lessened its stake in shares of Accenture plc (NYSE:ACN) by 10.8% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 825 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock after selling 100 shares during the period. Optimum Investment Advisors’ holdings in Accenture were worth $290,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of ACN. Swedbank AB boosted its position in shares of Accenture by 16.6% in the third quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 2,551,679 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $901,967,000 after purchasing an additional 363,401 shares during the period. Integrated Investment Consultants LLC bought a new position in Accenture in the 3rd quarter worth $377,000. Navellier & Associates Inc. purchased a new stake in Accenture in the 3rd quarter worth $216,000. CFS Investment Advisory Services LLC raised its holdings in Accenture by 13.9% during the third quarter. CFS Investment Advisory Services LLC now owns 1,060 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $375,000 after acquiring an additional 129 shares during the period. Finally, Biltmore Family Office LLC bought a new position in shares of Accenture in the third quarter worth about $215,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.14% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CFO Angie Y. Park sold 685 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, January 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $354.38, for a total transaction of $242,750.30. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 8,674 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,073,892.12. This trade represents a 7.32 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Julie Spellman Sweet sold 8,793 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $394.47, for a total transaction of $3,468,574.71. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 11,858 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,677,625.26. The trade was a 42.58 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 22,280 shares of company stock valued at $8,316,190 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.02% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

ACN has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on Accenture from $370.00 to $396.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, December 16th. Wolfe Research upgraded shares of Accenture from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $425.00 target price for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Piper Sandler reduced their price target on shares of Accenture from $396.00 to $364.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday. Jefferies Financial Group cut their price objective on Accenture from $385.00 to $355.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Finally, BMO Capital Markets dropped their price target on Accenture from $425.00 to $370.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, March 18th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $380.05.

Accenture Price Performance

ACN stock opened at $305.17 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $190.97 billion, a PE ratio of 25.60, a P/E/G ratio of 3.23 and a beta of 1.24. Accenture plc has a 12 month low of $278.69 and a 12 month high of $398.35. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $359.16 and a 200 day moving average price of $357.24. The company has a current ratio of 1.47, a quick ratio of 1.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17.

Accenture (NYSE:ACN) last released its earnings results on Thursday, March 20th. The information technology services provider reported $2.82 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.81 by $0.01. Accenture had a return on equity of 26.91% and a net margin of 11.41%. The firm had revenue of $16.70 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $16.64 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $2.77 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 5.7% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts anticipate that Accenture plc will post 12.73 earnings per share for the current year.

Accenture Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 10th will be paid a dividend of $1.48 per share. This represents a $5.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.94%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 10th. Accenture’s dividend payout ratio is currently 49.66%.

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.