Accenture plc (NYSE:ACN) Shares Purchased by Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc.

Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. boosted its position in Accenture plc (NYSE:ACN) by 504.9% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 104,933 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 87,585 shares during the period. Accenture makes up about 0.7% of Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 27th largest holding. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc.’s holdings in Accenture were worth $36,822,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Ameriprise Financial Inc. lifted its position in Accenture by 2.3% in the third quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 4,284,770 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $1,315,832,000 after purchasing an additional 96,414 shares during the period. Redwood Investments LLC lifted its position in shares of Accenture by 8.3% during the 4th quarter. Redwood Investments LLC now owns 20,227 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $7,098,000 after acquiring an additional 1,542 shares during the last quarter. Chicago Capital LLC lifted its position in shares of Accenture by 284.7% during the 4th quarter. Chicago Capital LLC now owns 12,677 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $4,449,000 after acquiring an additional 9,382 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Accenture by 33,484.1% during the 4th quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 567,572 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $199,167,000 after acquiring an additional 565,882 shares during the last quarter. Finally, VELA Investment Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Accenture by 4.3% during the 3rd quarter. VELA Investment Management LLC now owns 3,681 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $1,130,000 after acquiring an additional 153 shares during the last quarter. 75.14% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on the company. TD Cowen cut their price objective on Accenture from $363.00 to $350.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, March 22nd. Piper Sandler increased their target price on Accenture from $335.00 to $394.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, March 18th. UBS Group increased their target price on Accenture from $365.00 to $400.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, January 25th. Citigroup dropped their price target on shares of Accenture from $430.00 to $400.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, March 22nd. Finally, Bank of America upped 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. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $387.00.

Insider Buying and Selling

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 in the company, valued at approximately $4,208,606.78. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other Accenture news, CEO Manish Sharma sold 1,486 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $370.39, for a total transaction of $550,399.54. Following the completion of the sale, 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 filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Ellyn Shook sold 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 sale, the insider now owns 13,699 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,208,606.78. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 31,639 shares of company stock worth $10,276,287 in the last quarter. Insiders own 0.07% of the company’s stock.

Accenture Stock Performance

NYSE ACN traded up $1.68 during trading on Thursday, reaching $300.34. 2,683,898 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,500,042. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $345.84 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $342.03. The company has a market cap of $201.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.26, a P/E/G ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 1.21. Accenture plc has a 1-year low of $261.68 and a 1-year high of $387.51.

Accenture (NYSE:ACN) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, March 21st. The information technology services provider reported $2.77 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.66 by $0.11. The business 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%. Accenture’s revenue was down .1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.69 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that Accenture plc will post 12.09 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Accenture Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, April 11th will be given a $1.29 dividend. This represents a $5.16 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.72%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, April 10th. Accenture’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 46.78%.

Accenture Company 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.