Xponance Inc. Decreases Position in Accenture plc (NYSE:ACN)

Xponance Inc. reduced its position in shares of Accenture plc (NYSE:ACN) by 7.9% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 145,491 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock after selling 12,510 shares during the period. Accenture makes up 0.6% of Xponance Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 24th biggest holding. Xponance Inc.’s holdings in Accenture were worth $51,054,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. 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 stake in shares of Accenture by 4.0% during the 4th 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 period. Carr Financial Group Corp boosted its position in Accenture by 2.4% in the 4th quarter. Carr Financial Group Corp now owns 1,245 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $437,000 after buying an additional 29 shares during the period. Allworth Financial LP lifted its position in shares of Accenture by 0.5% in the 4th 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 period. Finally, Jag Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Accenture by 0.3% during the 3rd quarter. Jag Capital Management LLC now owns 9,271 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $2,847,000 after acquiring an additional 31 shares in the last quarter. 75.14% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Accenture Stock Up 0.5 %

Shares of NYSE ACN traded up $1.46 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $316.00. 2,995,243 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,368,846. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $357.35 and a 200 day moving average of $341.95. Accenture plc has a 1 year low of $261.68 and a 1 year high of $387.51. The stock has a market cap of $211.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.53, a P/E/G ratio of 2.98 and a beta of 1.19.

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

Accenture Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Investors 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 yield of 1.63%. Accenture’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 46.78%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Bank of America increased their price target on shares of Accenture from $379.00 to $419.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, March 7th. Guggenheim initiated coverage on shares of Accenture in a research note on Tuesday, March 19th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $425.00 price objective for the company. Citigroup cut their price objective on shares of Accenture from $430.00 to $400.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, March 22nd. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of Accenture from $400.00 to $417.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, March 18th. Finally, Piper Sandler boosted their price objective on shares of Accenture from $335.00 to $394.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, March 18th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Accenture currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $387.00.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Ellyn Shook sold 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $371.81, for a total transaction of $1,859,050.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 20,316 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,553,691.96. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In other news, insider Ellyn Shook sold 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, January 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $371.81, for a total transaction of $1,859,050.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 20,316 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,553,691.96. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CFO Kathleen R. Mcclure sold 4,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, April 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $316.00, for a total value of $1,422,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 42,781 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $13,518,796. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 41,750 shares of company stock valued at $14,543,436 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.07% of the company’s stock.

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.