Huntington National Bank Sells 26,518 Shares of Accenture PLC $ACN

Huntington National Bank trimmed its stake in shares of Accenture PLC (NYSE:ACN) by 17.4% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 125,584 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock after selling 26,518 shares during the quarter. Huntington National Bank’s holdings in Accenture were worth $33,694,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Triumph Capital Management bought a new position in Accenture in the 3rd quarter worth about $26,000. Board of the Pension Protection Fund bought a new position in Accenture in the 4th quarter worth about $27,000. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in Accenture in the 4th quarter worth about $27,000. Private Wealth Management Group LLC increased its stake in Accenture by 96.4% in the 4th 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 last quarter. Finally, Steph & Co. increased its stake in Accenture by 107.5% in the 4th quarter. Steph & Co. now owns 110 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $30,000 after acquiring an additional 57 shares during the last quarter. 75.14% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have weighed in on ACN. HSBC decreased their target price on Accenture from $220.00 to $210.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on Accenture from $243.00 to $247.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, March 20th. Citigroup decreased their target price on Accenture from $266.00 to $215.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 25th. Truist Financial cut their price objective on Accenture from $317.00 to $260.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, March 10th. Finally, Mizuho cut their price objective on Accenture from $309.00 to $280.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, March 23rd. Seventeen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and ten have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Accenture has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $274.50.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Atsushi Egawa sold 4,872 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $177.14, for a total transaction of $863,026.08. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 12,802 shares in the company, valued at $2,267,746.28. This represents a 27.57% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. 0.02% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Accenture Price Performance

ACN opened at $176.69 on Thursday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $186.26 and a 200-day moving average price of $227.25. Accenture PLC has a 12-month low of $155.82 and a 12-month high of $321.77. The company has a current ratio of 1.34, a quick ratio of 1.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. The stock has a market capitalization of $117.58 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.47, a PEG ratio of 1.68 and a beta of 1.08.

Accenture (NYSE:ACN) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, March 20th. The information technology services provider reported $2.93 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.84 by $0.09. The firm had revenue of $18.04 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $17.80 billion. Accenture had a return on equity of 26.33% and a net margin of 10.61%.The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $2.82 EPS. Equities analysts predict that Accenture PLC will post 13.87 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Accenture Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, April 9th were issued a dividend of $1.63 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, April 9th. This represents a $6.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.7%. Accenture’s dividend payout ratio is currently 53.40%.

Accenture Company 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.