Accenture plc (NYSE:ACN) Shares Acquired by Grove Bank & Trust

Grove Bank & Trust lifted its stake in Accenture plc (NYSE:ACN) by 2.2% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 10,529 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 226 shares during the period. Grove Bank & Trust’s holdings in Accenture were worth $3,285,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of ACN. FPC Investment Advisory Inc. boosted its holdings in Accenture by 62.2% in the fourth quarter. FPC Investment Advisory Inc. now owns 73 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 28 shares during the period. Kohmann Bosshard Financial Services LLC purchased a new position in Accenture in the fourth quarter valued at $30,000. Mpwm Advisory Solutions LLC purchased a new position in Accenture in the fourth quarter valued at $30,000. Park Square Financial Group LLC purchased a new position in Accenture in the fourth quarter valued at $31,000. Finally, Promus Capital LLC acquired a new stake in Accenture in the fourth quarter valued at $34,000. 75.14% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Accenture Stock Performance

NYSE ACN opened at $314.12 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.47, a current ratio of 1.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17. Accenture plc has a 52-week low of $275.01 and a 52-week high of $398.35. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $306.16 and its 200 day moving average price is $335.06. The firm has a market cap of $196.74 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.35, a P/E/G ratio of 3.23 and a beta of 1.33.

Accenture (NYSE:ACN) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 20th. The information technology services provider reported $2.82 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.81 by $0.01. Accenture had a return on equity of 26.91% and a net margin of 11.41%. The firm had revenue of $16.70 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.64 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $2.77 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 5.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts expect that Accenture plc will post 12.73 earnings per share for the current year.

Accenture Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, April 10th were issued a dividend of $1.48 per share. This represents a $5.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.88%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, April 10th. Accenture’s dividend payout ratio is currently 48.89%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have weighed in on ACN. Guggenheim cut their price target on Accenture from $400.00 to $395.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, March 21st. Mizuho cut their price target on Accenture from $428.00 to $398.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, March 19th. BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on Accenture to $355.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 26th. Robert W. Baird upgraded Accenture from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $390.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Monday, March 17th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on shares of Accenture from $349.00 to $353.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $380.00.

Insider Activity at Accenture

In related news, insider Angela Beatty sold 169 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, April 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $281.90, for a total value of $47,641.10. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 5,364 shares in the company, valued at $1,512,111.60. This trade represents a 3.05% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, COO John F. Walsh sold 2,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $325.00, for a total transaction of $812,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 15,882 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,161,650. The trade was a 13.60% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 8,516 shares of company stock worth $2,507,366 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.02% of the company’s stock.

About Accenture

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.