Franklin Resources Inc. Has $1.03 Billion Position in Accenture plc (NYSE:ACN)

Franklin Resources Inc. trimmed its holdings in Accenture plc (NYSE:ACN - Free Report) by 0.6% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,936,915 shares of the information technology services provider's stock after selling 17,679 shares during the quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. owned 0.47% of Accenture worth $1,033,177,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in ACN. Baldwin Wealth Partners LLC MA increased its holdings in shares of Accenture by 6.5% in the fourth quarter. Baldwin Wealth Partners LLC MA now owns 63,429 shares of the information technology services provider's stock valued at $22,314,000 after buying an additional 3,883 shares in the last quarter. Davidson Trust Co. lifted its holdings in shares of Accenture by 7.4% during the fourth quarter. Davidson Trust Co. now owns 2,307 shares of the information technology services provider's stock valued at $812,000 after purchasing an additional 158 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Street Advisors Inc. NC boosted its position in shares of Accenture by 126.8% in the 4th quarter. Franklin Street Advisors Inc. NC now owns 40,051 shares of the information technology services provider's stock valued at $14,090,000 after purchasing an additional 22,391 shares during the period. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. raised its holdings in Accenture by 37.5% during the 4th quarter. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 3,094 shares of the information technology services provider's stock worth $1,088,000 after buying an additional 843 shares during the period. Finally, SteelPeak Wealth LLC lifted its stake in Accenture by 127.1% during the fourth quarter. SteelPeak Wealth LLC now owns 2,323 shares of the information technology services provider's stock valued at $817,000 after buying an additional 1,300 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 75.14% of the company's stock.

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Insider Transactions at Accenture

In related news, insider Angela Beatty sold 961 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $354.47, for a total transaction of $340,645.67. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 5,484 shares in the company, valued at $1,943,913.48. This trade represents a 14.91 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CAO Melissa A. Burgum sold 232 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $394.46, for a total transaction of $91,514.72. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 8,915 shares in the company, valued at $3,516,610.90. This represents a 2.54 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 21,905 shares of company stock valued at $8,181,753. Company insiders own 0.02% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on ACN. Mizuho cut their price target on shares of Accenture from $428.00 to $398.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, March 19th. Baird R W upgraded Accenture from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Monday, March 17th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on Accenture from $370.00 to $396.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday, December 16th. Barclays decreased their price objective on Accenture from $415.00 to $390.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, March 24th. Finally, Piper Sandler reduced their price target on shares of Accenture from $396.00 to $364.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $378.23.

Accenture Stock Performance

NYSE:ACN traded down $14.99 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $301.34. 3,609,818 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,939,814. The firm has a market capitalization of $188.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.28, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.23 and a beta of 1.24. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $352.46 and a two-hundred day moving average of $355.28. The company has a current ratio of 1.47, a quick ratio of 1.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17. Accenture plc has a 12 month low of $278.69 and a 12 month high of $398.35.

Accenture (NYSE:ACN - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, March 20th. The information technology services provider reported $2.82 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.81 by $0.01. Accenture had a net margin of 11.41% and a return on equity of 26.91%. The firm had revenue of $16.70 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $16.64 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $2.77 EPS. The business's quarterly revenue was up 5.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts forecast that Accenture plc will post 12.73 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Accenture Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, April 10th will be given a $1.48 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 10th. This represents a $5.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.96%. Accenture's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 48.89%.

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.