Sompo Asset Management Co. Ltd. Cuts Stake in Accenture plc (NYSE:ACN)

Sompo Asset Management Co. Ltd. lessened its stake in Accenture plc (NYSE:ACN - Free Report) by 7.1% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 17,330 shares of the information technology services provider's stock after selling 1,320 shares during the quarter. Accenture accounts for about 1.0% of Sompo Asset Management Co. Ltd.'s portfolio, making the stock its 23rd largest holding. Sompo Asset Management Co. Ltd.'s holdings in Accenture were worth $6,097,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of ACN. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Accenture by 5.7% in the fourth quarter. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 518 shares of the information technology services provider's stock valued at $182,000 after purchasing an additional 28 shares during the last quarter. FPC Investment Advisory Inc. increased its stake in Accenture by 62.2% in the 4th quarter. FPC Investment Advisory Inc. now owns 73 shares of the information technology services provider's stock valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 28 shares during the last quarter. New England Professional Planning Group Inc. lifted its position in Accenture by 4.6% during the 4th quarter. New England Professional Planning Group Inc. now owns 655 shares of the information technology services provider's stock worth $230,000 after buying an additional 29 shares in the last quarter. Nemes Rush Group LLC grew its holdings in shares of Accenture by 7.5% in the 4th quarter. Nemes Rush Group LLC now owns 418 shares of the information technology services provider's stock valued at $147,000 after acquiring an additional 29 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Neville Rodie & Shaw Inc. increased its position in shares of Accenture by 4.3% during the 4th quarter. Neville Rodie & Shaw Inc. now owns 725 shares of the information technology services provider's stock worth $255,000 after purchasing an additional 30 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.14% of the company's stock.

Accenture Stock Performance

Accenture stock traded up $2.22 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $293.63. 2,919,152 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,002,396. Accenture plc has a 12 month low of $275.01 and a 12 month high of $398.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17, a current ratio of 1.47 and a quick ratio of 1.47. The business has a 50 day moving average of $316.14 and a two-hundred day moving average of $347.25. The firm has a market capitalization of $183.91 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.63, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.23 and a beta of 1.32.

Accenture (NYSE:ACN - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 20th. The information technology services provider reported $2.82 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.81 by $0.01. Accenture had a return on equity of 26.91% and a net margin of 11.41%. The company had revenue of $16.70 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.64 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.77 earnings per share. Accenture's revenue was up 5.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts predict that Accenture plc will post 12.73 earnings per share for the current year.

Accenture Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 10th will be given a $1.48 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 10th. This represents a $5.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.02%. Accenture's payout ratio is presently 48.89%.

Insider Transactions at Accenture

In related news, insider Angela Beatty sold 169 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, April 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $281.90, for a total transaction of $47,641.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 5,364 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,512,111.60. The trade was a 3.05 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CAO Melissa A. Burgum sold 232 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $394.46, for a total transaction of $91,514.72. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 8,915 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,516,610.90. The trade was a 2.54 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 15,041 shares of company stock worth $5,254,956 in the last 90 days. 0.02% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on ACN shares. Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on Accenture from $380.00 to $372.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, March 17th. StockNews.com cut shares of Accenture from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 11th. Royal Bank of Canada cut their target price on shares of Accenture from $399.00 to $392.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, March 21st. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their price target on shares of Accenture from $385.00 to $355.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Finally, Piper Sandler reduced their price objective on Accenture from $364.00 to $355.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 16th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $377.82.

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.