PGGM Investments Takes $1.02 Million Position in Accenture plc (NYSE:ACN)

PGGM Investments acquired a new stake in Accenture plc (NYSE:ACN) during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund acquired 2,919 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,024,000.

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in ACN. Transcend Capital Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Accenture by 5.5% during the 4th quarter. Transcend Capital Advisors LLC now owns 8,495 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $2,981,000 after purchasing an additional 444 shares during the period. Matrix Trust Co lifted its position in Accenture by 1.2% in the fourth quarter. Matrix Trust Co now owns 6,369 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $2,235,000 after buying an additional 75 shares during the last quarter. Unique Wealth Strategies LLC purchased a new position in Accenture during the fourth quarter worth about $1,442,000. Bank OZK raised its stake in shares of Accenture by 2.2% in the 4th quarter. Bank OZK now owns 4,931 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $1,730,000 after acquiring an additional 107 shares during the period. Finally, Stuart Chaussee & Associates Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Accenture by 82.1% in the 4th quarter. Stuart Chaussee & Associates Inc. now owns 377 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $132,000 after acquiring an additional 170 shares during the last quarter. 75.14% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Accenture

In other news, CEO Manish Sharma sold 1,486 shares of Accenture stock in a transaction on Monday, February 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $370.39, for a total value of $550,399.54. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 4,503 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,667,866.17. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In related news, insider Ellyn Shook sold 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $307.22, for a total transaction of $1,536,100.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 13,699 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,208,606.78. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Manish Sharma sold 1,486 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $370.39, for a total value of $550,399.54. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 4,503 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,667,866.17. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 31,639 shares of company stock worth $10,276,287. 0.07% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Accenture Stock Down 1.6 %

Shares of ACN opened at $303.16 on Tuesday. Accenture plc has a 52-week low of $261.68 and a 52-week high of $387.51. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $348.33 and a 200 day moving average price of $342.34. The company has a market capitalization of $203.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.49, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.92 and a beta of 1.19.

Accenture (NYSE:ACN) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 21st. The information technology services provider reported $2.77 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.66 by $0.11. Accenture had a net margin of 10.89% and a return on equity of 28.30%. The firm had revenue of $15.80 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $15.85 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $2.69 EPS. Accenture’s revenue for the quarter was down .1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Accenture plc will post 12.09 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Accenture Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 11th will be given a dividend of $1.29 per share. This represents a $5.16 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.70%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, April 10th. Accenture’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 46.78%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ACN has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their target price on Accenture from $374.00 to $381.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, March 22nd. Redburn Atlantic increased their target price on Accenture from $410.00 to $445.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 19th. Susquehanna reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $360.00 target price (down from $400.00) on shares of Accenture in a research report on Thursday, March 21st. Mizuho reissued a “buy” rating and set a $398.00 price target (down previously from $426.00) on shares of Accenture in a research report on Friday, March 22nd. Finally, TD Cowen cut their target price on shares of Accenture from $363.00 to $350.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, March 22nd. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Accenture currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average 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.