E Fund Management Co. Ltd. Sells 351 Shares of Accenture plc (NYSE:ACN)

E Fund Management Co. Ltd. decreased its position in Accenture plc (NYSE:ACN) by 6.1% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 5,377 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock after selling 351 shares during the quarter. E Fund Management Co. Ltd.’s holdings in Accenture were worth $1,887,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of ACN. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Accenture by 0.3% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 58,434,025 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $17,945,673,000 after buying an additional 184,541 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC increased its stake in Accenture by 4.4% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 13,316,028 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $4,089,485,000 after acquiring an additional 565,505 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its position in Accenture by 7.0% during 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 purchasing an additional 720,647 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp lifted its stake in shares of Accenture by 5.6% in the 3rd 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 valued at $1,556,676,000 after purchasing an additional 68,635 shares during the last quarter. 75.14% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Accenture Stock Performance

Accenture stock traded down $5.38 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $306.61. 3,237,979 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,507,224. Accenture plc has a 12-month low of $264.42 and a 12-month high of $387.51. The business has a fifty day moving average of $338.85 and a 200 day moving average of $342.14. The firm has a market cap of $205.66 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.80, a PEG ratio of 2.88 and a beta of 1.21.

Accenture (NYSE:ACN) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, March 21st. The information technology services provider reported $2.77 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.66 by $0.11. Accenture had a return on equity of 28.30% and a net margin of 10.89%. The company had revenue of $15.80 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $15.85 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $2.69 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down .1% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts predict that Accenture plc will post 12.09 EPS for the current year.

Accenture Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 11th will be issued 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 1.68%. Accenture’s dividend payout ratio is currently 46.78%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have commented on ACN. Mizuho reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $398.00 price objective (down from $426.00) on shares of Accenture in a research note on Friday, March 22nd. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on shares of Accenture from $400.00 to $417.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, March 18th. Piper Sandler raised their price objective on shares of Accenture from $335.00 to $394.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, March 18th. Citigroup cut their target price on Accenture from $430.00 to $400.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, March 22nd. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada raised their price target on Accenture from $374.00 to $381.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, March 22nd. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $387.00.

Insider Activity

In other news, General Counsel Joel Unruch sold 4,333 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, April 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $316.12, for a total value of $1,369,747.96. Following the completion of the transaction, the general counsel now directly owns 30,702 shares in the company, valued at $9,705,516.24. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other Accenture news, 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 completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 17,877 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,937,488.01. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, General Counsel Joel Unruch sold 4,333 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, April 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $316.12, for a total value of $1,369,747.96. Following the completion of the sale, the general counsel now owns 30,702 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,705,516.24. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 28,083 shares of company stock valued at $8,959,325 over the last ninety days. 0.07% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.