Palisade Asset Management LLC Sells 415 Shares of Accenture plc (NYSE:ACN)

Palisade Asset Management LLC decreased its position in Accenture plc (NYSE:ACN) by 1.3% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 32,566 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock after selling 415 shares during the period. Accenture comprises 1.3% of Palisade Asset Management LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 26th biggest position. Palisade Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Accenture were worth $11,428,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Accenture by 0.3% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 58,434,025 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $17,945,673,000 after purchasing an additional 184,541 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC boosted its stake in shares of Accenture by 4.4% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 13,316,028 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $4,089,485,000 after buying an additional 565,505 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its position in shares of Accenture by 7.0% in the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 11,034,666 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $3,388,856,000 after acquiring an additional 720,647 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp boosted its position in Accenture by 5.6% during the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 8,285,864 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $2,544,672,000 after purchasing an additional 443,004 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Accenture by 1.6% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 4,466,684 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $1,556,676,000 after purchasing an additional 68,635 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.14% of the company’s stock.

Accenture Price Performance

ACN traded up $1.33 on Wednesday, hitting $311.99. 2,280,230 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,489,347. Accenture plc has a 12 month low of $261.68 and a 12 month high of $387.51. The firm has a market capitalization of $209.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.40, a PEG ratio of 2.88 and a beta of 1.21. The business has a 50-day moving average of $340.17 and a two-hundred day moving average of $342.35.

Accenture (NYSE:ACN) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 21st. The information technology services provider reported $2.77 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $15.85 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.69 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was down .1% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts expect that Accenture plc will post 12.09 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Accenture Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 11th will be paid 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 1.65%. Accenture’s payout ratio is currently 46.78%.

Insider Activity at Accenture

In related news, insider Ellyn Shook sold 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on 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 sale, the insider now owns 13,699 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,208,606.78. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In related news, insider Ellyn Shook sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $307.22, for a total value of $1,536,100.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 13,699 shares in the company, valued at $4,208,606.78. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Jean-Marc Ollagnier sold 6,250 shares of Accenture stock in a transaction dated Friday, April 12th. The stock was 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 directly owns 161,581 shares in the company, valued at $51,045,053.71. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 28,083 shares of company stock valued at $8,959,325. 0.07% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ACN has been the subject of several analyst reports. UBS Group raised their target price on shares of Accenture from $365.00 to $400.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 25th. Robert W. Baird raised their target price on shares of Accenture from $364.00 to $375.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 7th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price target on Accenture from $363.00 to $395.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, March 18th. Guggenheim initiated coverage on Accenture in a research report on Tuesday, March 19th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $425.00 price objective for the company. Finally, StockNews.com lowered Accenture from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, April 27th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $387.00.

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.