AMF Tjanstepension AB Sells 161,296 Shares of Accenture plc (NYSE:ACN)

AMF Tjanstepension AB cut its position in shares of Accenture plc (NYSE:ACN) by 84.7% during the first quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 29,071 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock after selling 161,296 shares during the quarter. AMF Tjanstepension AB’s holdings in Accenture were worth $10,093,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in Accenture by 0.3% during 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 buying an additional 184,541 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its position in Accenture by 7.0% during the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 11,034,666 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $3,388,856,000 after buying an additional 720,647 shares in the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors grew its position in Accenture by 1.9% during the fourth quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 8,479,430 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $2,975,517,000 after buying an additional 159,696 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Accenture during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $2,061,490,000. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Accenture by 1.6% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 4,466,684 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $1,556,676,000 after purchasing an additional 68,635 shares in the last quarter. 75.14% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Accenture Stock Performance

Shares of Accenture stock opened at $303.58 on Friday. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $300.17 and a two-hundred day moving average of $336.15. The stock has a market capitalization of $203.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.80, a PEG ratio of 3.40 and a beta of 1.21. Accenture plc has a 52 week low of $278.69 and a 52 week high of $387.51.

Accenture (NYSE:ACN) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, June 20th. The information technology services provider reported $3.13 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate 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 during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.55 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $3.19 EPS. Accenture’s quarterly revenue was down .6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts forecast that Accenture plc will post 11.95 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Accenture Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, July 11th will be paid a $1.29 dividend. This represents a $5.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.70%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, July 11th. Accenture’s payout ratio is presently 47.25%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on ACN shares. Morgan Stanley downgraded Accenture from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and decreased their price objective for the company from $382.00 to $300.00 in a report on Wednesday. Redburn Atlantic lifted their price objective on Accenture from $410.00 to $445.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 19th. Robert W. Baird decreased their price objective on Accenture from $372.00 to $345.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, May 16th. The Goldman Sachs Group initiated coverage on shares of Accenture in a research note on Monday, June 24th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $335.00 target price for the company. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus cut their target price on shares of Accenture from $395.00 to $340.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, June 12th. Twelve investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Accenture currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $352.74.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Ellyn Shook sold 5,000 shares of the company’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 completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 13,699 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,208,606.78. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, General Counsel Joel Unruch sold 4,333 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, April 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $316.12, for a total transaction of $1,369,747.96. Following the completion of the transaction, the general counsel now directly owns 30,702 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,705,516.24. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, insider Ellyn Shook sold 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, 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. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 20,083 shares of company stock valued at $6,302,285. Company insiders own 0.07% of the company’s stock.

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.