S.E.E.D. Planning Group LLC Sells 45 Shares of Accenture plc (NYSE:ACN)

S.E.E.D. Planning Group LLC lessened its position in Accenture plc (NYSE:ACN) by 3.5% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,251 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock after selling 45 shares during the period. S.E.E.D. Planning Group LLC’s holdings in Accenture were worth $434,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Chilton Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Accenture by 180.0% in the fourth quarter. Chilton Capital Management LLC now owns 70 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 45 shares during the period. DiNuzzo Private Wealth Inc. purchased a new position in Accenture in the 4th quarter worth about $27,000. Ables Iannone Moore & Associates Inc. purchased a new position in Accenture during the 4th quarter valued at about $29,000. Atwood & Palmer Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Accenture by 214.8% in the 1st quarter. Atwood & Palmer Inc. now owns 85 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 58 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Halpern Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in Accenture in the 4th quarter worth approximately $31,000. 75.14% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Accenture Price Performance

Shares of Accenture stock traded up $0.22 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $303.41. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 14,905,693 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,036,297. The stock has a market cap of $203.51 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.80, a P/E/G ratio of 3.38 and a beta of 1.21. Accenture plc has a one year low of $278.69 and a one year high of $387.51. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $300.17 and a 200-day moving average price of $336.15.

Accenture (NYSE:ACN) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, June 20th. The information technology services provider reported $3.13 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.15 by ($0.02). Accenture had a net margin of 10.79% and a return on equity of 27.48%. The firm had revenue of $16.47 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $16.55 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $3.19 EPS. The company’s revenue was down .6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Accenture plc will post 11.95 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Accenture Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, July 11th will be issued 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 Thursday, July 11th. Accenture’s payout ratio is 47.25%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Accenture

In other news, insider Ellyn Shook sold 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the insider now directly owns 13,699 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,208,606.78. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In related news, CEO Jean-Marc Ollagnier sold 6,250 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, April 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $315.91, for a total value of $1,974,437.50. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 161,581 shares in the company, valued at approximately $51,045,053.71. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Ellyn Shook sold 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $307.22, for a total transaction of $1,536,100.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 13,699 shares in the company, valued at $4,208,606.78. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 20,083 shares of company stock valued at $6,302,285 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.07% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently commented on ACN shares. StockNews.com lowered shares of Accenture from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, April 27th. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their price target on shares of Accenture from $340.00 to $275.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, June 5th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft downgraded Accenture from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and decreased their price objective for the company from $409.00 to $295.00 in a report on Wednesday, May 15th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on Accenture from $374.00 to $381.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, March 22nd. Finally, BMO Capital Markets dropped their price objective on Accenture from $375.00 to $350.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, June 21st. Twelve investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $352.74.

Accenture 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.