Seascape Capital Management Raises Position in Accenture plc (NYSE:ACN)

Seascape Capital Management boosted its stake in Accenture plc (NYSE:ACN) by 5.2% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 1,954 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock after buying an additional 96 shares during the quarter. Seascape Capital Management’s holdings in Accenture were worth $686,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of ACN. Brave Asset Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Accenture by 2.8% during the fourth quarter. Brave Asset Management Inc. now owns 1,028 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $361,000 after acquiring an additional 28 shares in the last quarter. KMG Fiduciary Partners LLC boosted its holdings in Accenture by 4.0% in the fourth quarter. KMG Fiduciary Partners LLC now owns 760 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $267,000 after purchasing an additional 29 shares during the last quarter. Carr Financial Group Corp boosted its holdings in Accenture by 2.4% in the fourth quarter. Carr Financial Group Corp now owns 1,245 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $437,000 after purchasing an additional 29 shares during the last quarter. Allworth Financial LP boosted its holdings in Accenture by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 6,062 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $2,127,000 after purchasing an additional 30 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Jag Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Accenture by 0.3% in the third quarter. Jag Capital Management LLC now owns 9,271 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $2,847,000 after purchasing an additional 31 shares during the last quarter. 75.14% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Accenture

In related news, CFO Kathleen R. Mcclure sold 851 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, January 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $371.77, for a total value of $316,376.27. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 50,737 shares in the company, valued at approximately $18,862,494.49. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, CEO Manish Sharma sold 1,486 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $370.39, for a total value of $550,399.54. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 4,503 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,667,866.17. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CFO Kathleen R. Mcclure sold 851 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $371.77, for a total transaction of $316,376.27. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 50,737 shares in the company, valued at approximately $18,862,494.49. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 31,000 shares of company stock worth $11,146,998. 0.07% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Accenture Price Performance

Shares of NYSE ACN traded down $9.72 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $315.47. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 4,207,383 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,346,677. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $360.55 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $341.60. Accenture plc has a 1 year low of $261.68 and a 1 year high of $387.51. The firm has a market capitalization of $211.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.60, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.07 and a beta of 1.19.

Accenture (NYSE:ACN) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 21st. The information technology services provider reported $2.77 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.66 by $0.11. Accenture had a net margin of 10.89% and a return on equity of 28.30%. The company had revenue of $15.80 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $15.85 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $2.69 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down .1% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts anticipate that Accenture plc will post 12.1 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Accenture Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 11th will be given a dividend of $1.29 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, April 10th. This represents a $5.16 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.64%. Accenture’s dividend payout ratio is presently 46.78%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Mizuho reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $398.00 price target (down previously from $426.00) on shares of Accenture in a research note on Friday, March 22nd. Bank of America lifted their price target on shares of Accenture from $379.00 to $419.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 7th. TD Cowen dropped their price target on shares of Accenture from $363.00 to $350.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, March 22nd. Piper Sandler lifted their target price on shares of Accenture from $335.00 to $394.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, March 18th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of Accenture from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, March 22nd. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Accenture currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $387.00.

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.