Accenture PLC $ACN Shares Sold by Trust Co. of Vermont

Trust Co. of Vermont trimmed its position in Accenture PLC (NYSE:ACN) by 34.4% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 52,571 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock after selling 27,565 shares during the period. Trust Co. of Vermont’s holdings in Accenture were worth $14,105,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of ACN. Board of the Pension Protection Fund bought a new position in Accenture during the 4th quarter worth approximately $27,000. Investors Research Corp increased its holdings in shares of Accenture by 73.8% in the 3rd quarter. Investors Research Corp now owns 106 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 45 shares during the last quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. raised its position in shares of Accenture by 132.6% during the 3rd quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 107 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 61 shares in the last quarter. Triumph Capital Management bought a new position in Accenture during the third quarter worth $26,000. Finally, Davis Capital Management acquired a new position in Accenture in the third quarter worth $28,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.14% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ACN has been the topic of a number of research reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft dropped their target price on shares of Accenture from $280.00 to $230.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, March 6th. BMO Capital Markets decreased their price target on shares of Accenture from $300.00 to $230.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, March 20th. Evercore reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $300.00 price objective on shares of Accenture in a research note on Thursday, December 18th. UBS Group reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Accenture in a report on Tuesday, March 17th. Finally, Truist Financial decreased their target price on Accenture from $317.00 to $260.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, March 10th. Eighteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and ten have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $274.88.

Insider Buying and Selling at Accenture

In other news, CEO John F. Walsh sold 3,986 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $276.38, for a total transaction of $1,101,650.68. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 27,221 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,523,339.98. The trade was a 12.77% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CAO Melissa A. Burgum sold 3,588 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $281.01, for a total value of $1,008,263.88. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer owned 8,179 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,298,380.79. This represents a 30.49% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 22,088 shares of company stock valued at $5,970,434. 0.02% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Accenture Stock Performance

Shares of ACN opened at $196.98 on Thursday. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $220.50 and a 200-day moving average of $243.69. The company has a market cap of $131.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.13, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.88 and a beta of 1.27. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a quick ratio of 1.34 and a current ratio of 1.34. Accenture PLC has a 1 year low of $187.00 and a 1 year high of $325.71.

Accenture (NYSE:ACN) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 19th. The information technology services provider reported $2.93 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.84 by $0.09. The business had revenue of $18.04 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $17.80 billion. Accenture had a net margin of 10.61% and a return on equity of 26.33%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $2.82 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Accenture PLC will post 12.73 earnings per share for the current year.

Accenture Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 9th will be issued a dividend of $1.63 per share. This represents a $6.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 9th. Accenture’s payout ratio is 53.40%.

Accenture Profile

Accenture is a global professional services company that provides a broad range of services and solutions in strategy, consulting, digital, technology and operations. The firm works with organizations across industries to design and implement business transformation programs, deploy and manage enterprise technology, optimize operations, and develop customer and digital experiences. Its offerings encompass management and technology consulting, systems integration, application and infrastructure services, cloud migration and managed services, as well as security and analytics capabilities.

The company delivers industry- and function-specific solutions, combining consulting expertise with proprietary tools, platforms and partnerships with major technology vendors.