Accenture plc (NYSE:ACN) Stock Position Lowered by Sycomore Asset Management

Sycomore Asset Management trimmed its stake in Accenture plc (NYSE:ACN) by 5.8% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 25,477 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock after selling 1,561 shares during the quarter. Accenture comprises 1.9% of Sycomore Asset Management’s portfolio, making the stock its 13th largest holding. Sycomore Asset Management’s holdings in Accenture were worth $9,014,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Accenture by 0.3% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 58,434,025 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $17,945,673,000 after buying an additional 184,541 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC raised its holdings in shares of Accenture by 4.4% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 13,316,028 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $4,089,485,000 after purchasing an additional 565,505 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its position in Accenture by 7.0% during the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 11,034,666 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $3,388,856,000 after buying an additional 720,647 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp raised its stake in shares of Accenture by 5.6% in the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 8,285,864 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $2,544,672,000 after acquiring an additional 443,004 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in Accenture by 0.5% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 4,398,049 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $1,340,568,000 after purchasing an additional 20,876 shares during the period. 75.14% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Accenture Stock Performance

Accenture stock traded down $3.29 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $313.54. The stock had a trading volume of 4,125,479 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,408,188. Accenture plc has a 1-year low of $261.68 and a 1-year high of $387.51. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $352.14 and its 200-day simple moving average is $342.20. The stock has a market capitalization of $210.30 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.43, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 1.19.

Accenture (NYSE:ACN) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 business had revenue of $15.80 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $15.85 billion. Accenture had a net margin of 10.89% and a return on equity of 28.30%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down .1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $2.69 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Accenture plc will post 12.09 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Accenture Dividend Announcement

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 given a $1.29 dividend. This represents a $5.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.65%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, April 10th. Accenture’s dividend payout ratio is currently 46.78%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on ACN shares. BMO Capital Markets reduced their price objective on Accenture from $385.00 to $375.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, March 22nd. Guggenheim started coverage on Accenture in a research note on Tuesday, March 19th. They set a “buy” rating and a $425.00 price objective for the company. UBS Group lifted their price objective on Accenture from $365.00 to $400.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 25th. TD Cowen dropped their target price 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. Finally, Mizuho reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $398.00 price objective (down previously from $426.00) on shares of Accenture in a report on Friday, March 22nd. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $387.00.

Insider Activity at Accenture

In other Accenture 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 transaction, the insider now owns 20,316 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,553,691.96. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, CEO Jean-Marc Ollagnier sold 6,250 shares of Accenture stock in a transaction dated Friday, April 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $315.91, for a total transaction of $1,974,437.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 161,581 shares in the company, valued at $51,045,053.71. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, 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 value of $1,859,050.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 20,316 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,553,691.96. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 39,833 shares of company stock valued at $13,645,871. Insiders own 0.07% of the company’s stock.

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.