Buffington Mohr McNeal Sells 534 Shares of Accenture plc (NYSE:ACN)

Buffington Mohr McNeal trimmed its holdings in Accenture plc (NYSE:ACN) by 17.7% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 2,476 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock after selling 534 shares during the quarter. Buffington Mohr McNeal’s holdings in Accenture were worth $869,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in ACN. United Bank lifted its stake in shares of Accenture by 6.3% in the 1st quarter. United Bank now owns 2,969 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $1,001,000 after purchasing an additional 176 shares during the period. Weitz Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Accenture by 1.3% in the 1st quarter. Weitz Investment Management Inc. now owns 89,400 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $30,148,000 after purchasing an additional 1,168 shares during the period. Fund Management at Engine No. 1 LLC acquired a new position in Accenture during the 1st quarter worth approximately $1,805,000. Guardian Wealth Management Inc. raised its stake in Accenture by 0.6% during the 1st quarter. Guardian Wealth Management Inc. now owns 7,292 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $2,459,000 after buying an additional 41 shares during the period. Finally, Clearbridge Investments LLC raised its stake in shares of Accenture by 104.8% in the first quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 441,451 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $148,871,000 after purchasing an additional 225,943 shares during the last quarter. 75.14% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Accenture Stock Performance

NYSE ACN traded down $0.29 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $312.98. 1,229,739 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,338,643. The stock has a market capitalization of $209.93 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.41, a PEG ratio of 2.99 and a beta of 1.19. Accenture plc has a 12-month low of $261.68 and a 12-month high of $387.51. The business has a 50 day moving average of $359.41 and a 200-day moving average of $342.09.

Accenture (NYSE:ACN) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 21st. The information technology services provider reported $2.77 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.66 by $0.11. The business had revenue of $15.80 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $15.85 billion. Accenture had a net margin of 10.89% and a return on equity of 28.30%. The company’s revenue was down .1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $2.69 earnings per share. On average, analysts expect that Accenture plc will post 12.09 EPS for the current year.

Accenture Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 11th will be issued 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 payout ratio is 46.78%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have recently commented on ACN shares. BNP Paribas raised Accenture from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $440.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Wednesday, January 17th. Bank of America increased their price objective on Accenture from $379.00 to $419.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 7th. Piper Sandler increased their price objective on Accenture from $335.00 to $394.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, March 18th. Susquehanna reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $360.00 price objective (down from $400.00) on shares of Accenture in a research note on Thursday, March 21st. Finally, Citigroup reduced their target price on Accenture from $430.00 to $400.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, March 22nd. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $387.00.

Insider Transactions at Accenture

In other news, insider Ellyn Shook sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $371.81, for a total value of $1,859,050.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 20,316 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,553,691.96. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. In related news, CAO Melissa A. Burgum sold 3,010 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $371.80, for a total value of $1,119,118.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 9,193 shares in the company, valued at $3,417,957.40. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Ellyn Shook sold 5,000 shares of the company’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 completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 20,316 shares in the company, valued at $7,553,691.96. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 31,000 shares of company stock valued at $11,146,998. 0.07% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.