Heartland Bank & Trust Co lowered its stake in shares of Accenture plc (NYSE:ACN – Free Report) by 8.5% in the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 3,574 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock after selling 333 shares during the quarter. Accenture makes up approximately 0.9% of Heartland Bank & Trust Co’s holdings, making the stock its 26th largest position. Heartland Bank & Trust Co’s holdings in Accenture were worth $1,103,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.
Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Ninety One UK Ltd grew its position in Accenture by 23.6% in the 2nd quarter. Ninety One UK Ltd now owns 588,866 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $181,712,000 after purchasing an additional 112,453 shares during the last quarter. Border to Coast Pensions Partnership Ltd bought a new position in Accenture in the 2nd quarter worth about $38,350,000. Signet Investment Advisory Group Inc. grew its position in Accenture by 22.6% in the 2nd quarter. Signet Investment Advisory Group Inc. now owns 7,187 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $2,218,000 after purchasing an additional 1,325 shares during the last quarter. Grant GrossMendelsohn LLC acquired a new position in Accenture during the 2nd quarter worth $681,000. Finally, Golden State Equity Partners boosted its position in Accenture by 11.9% during the 2nd quarter. Golden State Equity Partners now owns 2,541 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $784,000 after acquiring an additional 271 shares during the period. 70.42% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.
Accenture Stock Performance
Shares of NYSE:ACN opened at $314.46 on Thursday. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $316.24 and a 200-day moving average of $299.02. The company has a market capitalization of $209.01 billion, a PE ratio of 28.03, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.84 and a beta of 1.22. Accenture plc has a one year low of $242.80 and a one year high of $330.43.
Accenture (NYSE:ACN – Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, September 28th. The information technology services provider reported $2.71 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.65 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $15.99 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $16.07 billion. Accenture had a return on equity of 30.47% and a net margin of 11.28%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $2.60 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that Accenture plc will post 11.6 EPS for the current fiscal year.
Accenture Increases Dividend
The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, October 12th will be given a dividend of $1.29 per share. This represents a $5.16 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.64%. This is a boost from Accenture’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.12. Accenture’s payout ratio is presently 39.93%.
Insiders Place Their Bets
In other Accenture news, insider Jean-Marc Ollagnier sold 6,250 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $316.19, for a total transaction of $1,976,187.50. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 167,854 shares in the company, valued at approximately $53,073,756.26. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In other Accenture news, CEO Julie Spellman Sweet sold 2,930 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $316.23, for a total value of $926,553.90. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 21,982 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,951,367.86. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Jean-Marc Ollagnier sold 6,250 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $316.19, for a total transaction of $1,976,187.50. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 167,854 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $53,073,756.26. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 24,430 shares of company stock worth $7,735,251. Corporate insiders own 0.08% of the company’s stock.
Analysts Set New Price Targets
A number of research analysts have issued reports on the company. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price target on Accenture from $310.00 to $343.00 in a research report on Thursday, June 15th. TD Cowen boosted their price target on shares of Accenture from $300.00 to $312.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 12th. Robert W. Baird boosted their price target on shares of Accenture from $316.00 to $332.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, September 8th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Accenture from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, September 11th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on Accenture from $314.00 to $341.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 22nd. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Accenture currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $335.82.
Accenture Profile
Accenture plc, a professional services company, provides strategy and consulting, interactive, 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 comprises 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 comprises turnkey analytics and artificial intelligence (AI) solutions; metaverse; and sustainability services.
Further Reading
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