Vestmark Advisory Solutions Inc. Sells 543 Shares of Accenture plc (NYSE:ACN)

Vestmark Advisory Solutions Inc. trimmed its holdings in shares of Accenture plc (NYSE:ACN) by 3.5% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 15,084 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock after selling 543 shares during the period. Vestmark Advisory Solutions Inc.’s holdings in Accenture were worth $5,293,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of ACN. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Accenture by 0.3% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 58,434,025 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $17,945,673,000 after acquiring an additional 184,541 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC grew its position in Accenture by 4.4% in 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 during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its stake in Accenture by 7.0% during the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 11,034,666 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $3,388,856,000 after purchasing an additional 720,647 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp lifted its stake in shares of Accenture by 5.6% in the third 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 buying an additional 443,004 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of 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 valued at $1,340,568,000 after buying an additional 20,876 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.14% of the company’s stock.

Accenture Stock Up 1.1 %

ACN traded up $3.37 on Friday, hitting $303.71. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 2,767,141 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,150,080. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $342.95 and its 200-day simple moving average is $341.73. Accenture plc has a 12 month low of $261.68 and a 12 month high of $387.51. The firm has a market cap of $203.71 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.53, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 1.21.

Accenture (NYSE:ACN) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, March 21st. The information technology services provider reported $2.77 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 business had revenue of $15.80 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $15.85 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $2.69 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was down .1% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts predict that Accenture plc will post 12.09 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Accenture Announces Dividend

The firm 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 dividend of $1.29 per share. This represents a $5.16 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.70%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, April 10th. Accenture’s payout ratio is 46.78%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Accenture 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,208,606.78. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. In other news, insider Ellyn Shook sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $307.22, for a total transaction of $1,536,100.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 13,699 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,208,606.78. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, General Counsel Joel Unruch sold 4,333 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, April 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $316.12, for a total value of $1,369,747.96. Following the completion of the sale, the general counsel now owns 30,702 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,705,516.24. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 31,639 shares of company stock worth $10,276,287 in the last ninety days. 0.07% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on ACN shares. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on shares of Accenture from $400.00 to $417.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, March 18th. BMO Capital Markets decreased their price target on Accenture from $385.00 to $375.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, March 22nd. Citigroup dropped their price objective on Accenture from $430.00 to $400.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, March 22nd. 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 note on Monday, March 18th. Finally, Susquehanna reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $360.00 price target (down from $400.00) on shares of Accenture in a research report on Thursday, March 21st. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target 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.