Accenture plc (NYSE:ACN) Shares Sold by Heirloom Wealth Management

Heirloom Wealth Management lessened its stake in Accenture plc (NYSE:ACN) by 11.7% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 2,877 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock after selling 380 shares during the quarter. Accenture makes up approximately 0.4% of Heirloom Wealth Management’s holdings, making the stock its 25th biggest holding. Heirloom Wealth Management’s holdings in Accenture were worth $1,010,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of ACN. United Bank raised its stake 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 valued at $1,001,000 after purchasing an additional 176 shares in the last quarter. Weitz Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in 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 worth $30,148,000 after acquiring an additional 1,168 shares during the period. Fund Management at Engine No. 1 LLC acquired a new stake in Accenture during the first quarter worth about $1,805,000. Guardian Wealth Management Inc. raised its stake in Accenture by 0.6% during 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 acquiring an additional 41 shares during the period. Finally, Clearbridge Investments LLC raised its stake in Accenture by 104.8% during the first quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 441,451 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $148,871,000 after acquiring an additional 225,943 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.14% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Accenture

In other news, insider Ellyn Shook sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, January 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $371.81, for a total transaction of $1,859,050.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 20,316 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,553,691.96. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In related news, CAO Melissa A. Burgum sold 3,010 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, January 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $371.80, for a total value of $1,119,118.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 9,193 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,417,957.40. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Ellyn Shook sold 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, January 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $371.81, for a total transaction of $1,859,050.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 20,316 shares in the company, valued at $7,553,691.96. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 35,500 shares of company stock worth $12,276,123 in the last 90 days. 0.07% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Accenture Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:ACN traded up $0.88 during mid-day 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 company has a market cap of $212.54 billion, a PE ratio of 28.73, a P/E/G ratio of 2.98 and a beta of 1.19. Accenture plc has a 12-month low of $261.68 and a 12-month high of $387.51. The company’s 50 day moving average is $355.21 and its 200-day moving average is $341.83.

Accenture (NYSE:ACN) last released its 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 prior year, the firm earned $2.69 EPS. The company’s revenue was down .1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts predict that Accenture plc will post 12.09 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Accenture Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 11th will be paid a dividend of $1.29 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, April 10th. This represents a $5.16 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.63%. Accenture’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 46.78%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on ACN shares. BNP Paribas upgraded shares of Accenture from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $440.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, January 17th. Bank of America upped their target price on shares of Accenture from $379.00 to $419.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 7th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their target price on shares of Accenture from $363.00 to $395.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, March 18th. TD Cowen decreased their target price on shares of Accenture from $363.00 to $350.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, March 22nd. Finally, Piper Sandler upped their target price 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. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $387.00.

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.