Raymond James & Associates Grows Holdings in Accenture plc (NYSE:ACN)

Raymond James & Associates grew its position in Accenture plc (NYSE:ACN) by 2.0% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 1,111,476 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 22,150 shares during the quarter. Raymond James & Associates’ holdings in Accenture were worth $385,248,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of ACN. Lakewood Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in Accenture by 8.4% during the first quarter. Lakewood Asset Management LLC now owns 2,709 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $939,000 after acquiring an additional 210 shares during the period. Westbourne Investment Advisors Inc. grew its position in shares of Accenture by 1.2% during the first quarter. Westbourne Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 17,755 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $6,154,000 after purchasing an additional 213 shares in the last quarter. Berry Wealth Group LP purchased a new position in Accenture in the 1st quarter worth approximately $234,000. Edge Financial Advisors LLC bought a new position in Accenture in the 1st quarter worth approximately $1,734,000. Finally, Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC grew its holdings in Accenture by 9.6% during the 1st quarter. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC now owns 21,174 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $7,339,000 after buying an additional 1,856 shares in the last quarter. 75.14% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Accenture Stock Performance

Accenture stock traded down $0.99 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $308.01. The company had a trading volume of 3,371,848 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,670,314. The firm has a market cap of $206.59 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.92, a P/E/G ratio of 2.93 and a beta of 1.19. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $349.66 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $341.94. Accenture plc has a 1 year low of $261.68 and a 1 year high of $387.51.

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

Accenture Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, April 11th will be paid a $1.29 dividend. This represents a $5.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.68%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, April 10th. Accenture’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 46.78%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ACN has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Morgan Stanley raised their target price 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. Susquehanna reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $360.00 target price (down from $400.00) on shares of Accenture in a research report on Thursday, March 21st. StockNews.com downgraded Accenture from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday. BMO Capital Markets cut their target price on shares of Accenture from $385.00 to $375.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, March 22nd. Finally, Robert W. Baird upped their price target on shares of Accenture from $364.00 to $375.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 7th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $387.00.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Ellyn Shook sold 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $307.22, for a total value of $1,536,100.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 13,699 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,208,606.78. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In related news, CFO Kathleen R. Mcclure sold 851 shares of the business’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 transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Ellyn Shook sold 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $307.22, for a total transaction of $1,536,100.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 13,699 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,208,606.78. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 32,490 shares of company stock worth $10,592,664 in the last three months. Corporate 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.