Accenture plc (NYSE:ACN) Shares Sold by Merit Financial Group LLC

Merit Financial Group LLC reduced its position in Accenture plc (NYSE:ACN) by 28.4% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 4,022 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock after selling 1,599 shares during the quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC’s holdings in Accenture were worth $1,411,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of ACN. Chilton Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Accenture by 180.0% during 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 during the period. DiNuzzo Private Wealth Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Accenture during the 4th quarter worth $27,000. Halpern Financial Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Accenture during the 4th quarter worth $31,000. BluePath Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Accenture during the 3rd quarter worth $31,000. Finally, Valued Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Accenture during the 4th quarter worth $50,000. 75.14% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Guggenheim assumed coverage on shares of Accenture in a research note on Tuesday, March 19th. They set a “buy” rating and a $425.00 price target on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on shares of Accenture from $374.00 to $381.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, March 22nd. Susquehanna reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $360.00 price objective (down from $400.00) on shares of Accenture in a research report on Thursday, March 21st. StockNews.com lowered shares of Accenture from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, April 27th. Finally, Robert W. Baird boosted their price objective on shares of Accenture from $364.00 to $375.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 7th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Accenture presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $387.00.

Insider Activity at Accenture

In related news, insider Ellyn Shook sold 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the insider now owns 13,699 shares in the company, valued at $4,208,606.78. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In related news, CEO Jean-Marc Ollagnier sold 6,250 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, April 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $315.91, for a total value of $1,974,437.50. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 161,581 shares in the company, valued at $51,045,053.71. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, insider Ellyn Shook sold 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $307.22, for a total transaction of $1,536,100.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 13,699 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,208,606.78. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 31,639 shares of company stock worth $10,276,287. Company insiders own 0.07% of the company’s stock.

Accenture Stock Performance

ACN opened at $303.71 on Friday. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $342.95 and its 200 day simple moving average is $341.73. Accenture plc has a 1 year low of $261.68 and a 1 year high of $387.51. The stock has a market capitalization of $203.71 billion, a PE ratio of 27.53, a P/E/G ratio of 2.88 and a beta of 1.21.

Accenture (NYSE:ACN) last released its earnings results on Thursday, March 21st. The information technology services provider reported $2.77 earnings per share (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 business had revenue of $15.80 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $15.85 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.69 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was down .1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Accenture plc will post 12.09 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Accenture Dividend Announcement

The business 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 of this dividend is Wednesday, April 10th. This represents a $5.16 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.70%. Accenture’s dividend payout ratio is presently 46.78%.

About Accenture

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.