Accenture plc (NYSE:ACN) Stock Holdings Lowered by E Fund Management Co. Ltd.

E Fund Management Co. Ltd. trimmed its holdings in shares of Accenture plc (NYSE:ACN) by 6.1% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 5,377 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock after selling 351 shares during the period. E Fund Management Co. Ltd.’s holdings in Accenture were worth $1,887,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in ACN. Ameriprise Financial Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Accenture by 2.3% during the third quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 4,284,770 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $1,315,832,000 after acquiring an additional 96,414 shares during the period. Redwood Investments LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Accenture by 8.3% in the fourth quarter. Redwood Investments LLC now owns 20,227 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $7,098,000 after purchasing an additional 1,542 shares in the last quarter. Chicago Capital LLC grew its holdings in shares of Accenture by 284.7% during the fourth quarter. Chicago Capital LLC now owns 12,677 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $4,449,000 after buying an additional 9,382 shares in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its position in Accenture by 33,484.1% during the fourth quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 567,572 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $199,167,000 after buying an additional 565,882 shares during the period. Finally, VELA Investment Management LLC boosted its position in Accenture by 4.3% during the 3rd quarter. VELA Investment Management LLC now owns 3,681 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $1,130,000 after acquiring an additional 153 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.14% of the company’s stock.

Accenture Price Performance

Shares of NYSE ACN traded down $5.38 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $306.61. 3,237,979 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,507,224. The stock has a market capitalization of $205.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.80, a PEG ratio of 2.88 and a beta of 1.21. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $338.85 and its 200-day moving average price is $342.14. Accenture plc has a 1-year low of $264.42 and a 1-year high of $387.51.

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

Accenture Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 11th will be given a dividend of $1.29 per share. This represents a $5.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.68%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, April 10th. Accenture’s dividend payout ratio is currently 46.78%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

ACN has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Susquehanna reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $360.00 price target (down from $400.00) on shares of Accenture in a research report on Thursday, March 21st. Citigroup lowered their price target on shares of Accenture from $430.00 to $400.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, March 22nd. UBS Group increased their price objective on Accenture from $365.00 to $400.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, January 25th. BMO Capital Markets lowered their target price on Accenture from $385.00 to $375.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, March 22nd. Finally, Guggenheim started coverage on Accenture in a research note on Tuesday, March 19th. They set a “buy” rating and a $425.00 price target for the company. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Accenture has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $387.00.

Insider Activity at Accenture

In other Accenture news, insider Ellyn Shook sold 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 25th. The stock was 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 legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In other Accenture news, 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 value of $1,536,100.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 13,699 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,208,606.78. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, General Counsel Joel Unruch sold 4,333 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, April 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $316.12, for a total transaction of $1,369,747.96. Following the transaction, the general counsel now directly owns 30,702 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,705,516.24. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 28,083 shares of company stock worth $8,959,325. Company insiders own 0.07% of the company’s stock.

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.