Greenleaf Trust Grows Stock Holdings in Accenture plc (NYSE:ACN)

Greenleaf Trust lifted its holdings in Accenture plc (NYSE:ACN) by 1.3% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 24,646 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 323 shares during the period. Greenleaf Trust’s holdings in Accenture were worth $8,649,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in ACN. United Bank lifted its holdings in shares of Accenture by 6.3% in the 1st quarter. United Bank now owns 2,969 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $1,001,000 after acquiring an additional 176 shares during the last quarter. Weitz Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Accenture by 1.3% during the first quarter. Weitz Investment Management Inc. now owns 89,400 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $30,148,000 after buying an additional 1,168 shares during the period. Fund Management at Engine No. 1 LLC bought a new position in shares of Accenture during the first quarter valued at approximately $1,805,000. Guardian Wealth Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Accenture by 0.6% in the first quarter. Guardian Wealth Management Inc. now owns 7,292 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $2,459,000 after buying an additional 41 shares during the period. Finally, Clearbridge Investments LLC boosted its holdings in Accenture by 104.8% during the 1st quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 441,451 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $148,871,000 after acquiring an additional 225,943 shares during the period. 75.14% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Accenture Stock Performance

ACN traded up $0.88 during trading on Friday, hitting $316.88. The stock had a trading volume of 3,381,158 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,390,528. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $356.30 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $341.77. Accenture plc has a twelve month low of $261.68 and a twelve month high of $387.51. The company has a market capitalization of $212.54 billion, a PE ratio of 28.72, a PEG ratio of 2.98 and a beta of 1.19.

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

Accenture Announces Dividend

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 dividend yield of 1.63%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, April 10th. Accenture’s payout ratio is currently 46.78%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Jean-Marc Ollagnier sold 6,250 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, April 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $315.91, for a total value of $1,974,437.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 161,581 shares in the company, valued at $51,045,053.71. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, CEO Jean-Marc Ollagnier sold 6,250 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, April 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $315.91, for a total value of $1,974,437.50. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 161,581 shares in the company, valued at $51,045,053.71. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Melissa A. Burgum sold 3,010 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, January 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $371.80, for a total transaction of $1,119,118.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 9,193 shares in the company, valued at $3,417,957.40. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 35,500 shares of company stock valued at $12,276,123. Insiders own 0.07% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

ACN has been the subject of several research analyst reports. UBS Group lifted their target price on Accenture from $365.00 to $400.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 25th. StockNews.com cut shares of Accenture from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, March 22nd. Susquehanna reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $360.00 target price (down from $400.00) on shares of Accenture in a research report on Thursday, March 21st. Robert W. Baird boosted their price target on Accenture from $364.00 to $375.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, March 7th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets reduced their price objective on Accenture from $385.00 to $375.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock 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. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Accenture currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price 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.