GRIMES & Co WEALTH MANAGEMENT LLC Sells 3,551 Shares of Accenture PLC $ACN

GRIMES & Co WEALTH MANAGEMENT LLC decreased its holdings in Accenture PLC (NYSE:ACN) by 5.6% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 59,667 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock after selling 3,551 shares during the period. GRIMES & Co WEALTH MANAGEMENT LLC’s holdings in Accenture were worth $16,009,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in ACN. Triumph Capital Management bought a new position in shares of Accenture in the third quarter worth about $26,000. Board of the Pension Protection Fund bought a new position in shares of Accenture in the fourth quarter worth about $27,000. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Accenture in the fourth quarter worth about $27,000. Private Wealth Management Group LLC boosted its stake in shares of Accenture by 96.4% in the fourth quarter. Private Wealth Management Group LLC now owns 108 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 53 shares during the period. Finally, Steph & Co. lifted its position in shares of Accenture by 107.5% in the fourth quarter. Steph & Co. now owns 110 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $30,000 after buying an additional 57 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 75.14% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on ACN shares. Berenberg Bank started coverage on Accenture in a research report on Thursday, January 22nd. They issued a “buy” rating and a $313.00 target price on the stock. Piper Sandler set a $282.00 target price on Accenture in a research report on Thursday, March 5th. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on Accenture from $320.00 to $240.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, March 16th. UBS Group reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Accenture in a research report on Tuesday, March 17th. Finally, Citigroup decreased their target price on Accenture from $266.00 to $215.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 25th. Seventeen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and ten have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Accenture currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $274.50.

Accenture Trading Up 3.3%

Shares of NYSE ACN opened at $180.39 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a quick ratio of 1.34 and a current ratio of 1.34. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $194.89 and its 200-day moving average price is $234.53. Accenture PLC has a fifty-two week low of $173.52 and a fifty-two week high of $325.71. The company has a market cap of $120.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.77, a PEG ratio of 1.66 and a beta of 1.08.

Accenture (NYSE:ACN) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, March 20th. The information technology services provider reported $2.93 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.84 by $0.09. Accenture had a return on equity of 26.33% and a net margin of 10.61%.The firm had revenue of $18.04 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $17.80 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $2.82 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Accenture PLC will post 13.87 earnings per share for the current year.

Accenture Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, April 9th will be paid a $1.63 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 9th. This represents a $6.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.6%. Accenture’s dividend payout ratio is 53.40%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Accenture

In other Accenture news, CEO Atsushi Egawa sold 4,872 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $177.14, for a total transaction of $863,026.08. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 12,802 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,267,746.28. This trade represents a 27.57% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO Julie Spellman Sweet sold 6,057 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $241.23, for a total value of $1,461,130.11. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 15,255 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,679,963.65. This represents a 28.42% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. 0.02% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.