Accenture plc (NYSE:ACN) Shares Acquired by Handelsbanken Fonder AB

Handelsbanken Fonder AB boosted its position in Accenture plc (NYSE:ACN - Free Report) by 7.3% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 232,375 shares of the information technology services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 15,812 shares during the quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB's holdings in Accenture were worth $81,747,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in ACN. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC increased its stake in shares of Accenture by 378.9% in the 3rd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 5,491,736 shares of the information technology services provider's stock worth $1,941,219,000 after acquiring an additional 4,345,039 shares during the last quarter. Swedbank AB increased its stake in shares of Accenture by 47.5% in the 4th quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 3,763,690 shares of the information technology services provider's stock worth $1,324,029,000 after acquiring an additional 1,212,011 shares during the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its stake in shares of Accenture by 2,666.5% in the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 715,219 shares of the information technology services provider's stock worth $251,607,000 after acquiring an additional 689,366 shares during the last quarter. Holocene Advisors LP purchased a new position in shares of Accenture during the 3rd quarter worth $204,895,000. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Accenture by 37,788.5% during the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 510,358 shares of the information technology services provider's stock worth $180,401,000 after purchasing an additional 509,011 shares during the period. 75.14% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Accenture Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:ACN traded down $20.49 on Friday, reaching $364.35. The company's stock had a trading volume of 3,747,836 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,728,130. The stock's 50-day moving average is $367.37 and its two-hundred day moving average is $355.77. Accenture plc has a 52-week low of $278.69 and a 52-week 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 stock has a market capitalization of $228.00 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.57, a PEG ratio of 3.46 and a beta of 1.24.

Accenture (NYSE:ACN - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, December 19th. The information technology services provider reported $3.59 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $3.43 by $0.16. The business had revenue of $17.69 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $17.15 billion. Accenture had a net margin of 11.41% and a return on equity of 26.91%. The business's revenue was up 9.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $3.27 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Accenture plc will post 12.73 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Accenture news, CEO Julie Spellman Sweet sold 8,793 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $394.47, for a total transaction of $3,468,574.71. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 11,858 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,677,625.26. This represents a 42.58 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Angela Beatty sold 375 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $358.50, for a total transaction of $134,437.50. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 5,149 shares in the company, valued at $1,845,916.50. The trade was a 6.79 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 22,280 shares of company stock valued at $8,316,190 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.02% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on ACN shares. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded Accenture from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and increased their price target for the stock from $370.00 to $420.00 in a report on Friday, December 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on Accenture from $370.00 to $396.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday, December 16th. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on Accenture from $335.00 to $380.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their target price on Accenture from $385.00 to $355.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. Finally, BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on Accenture from $390.00 to $425.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Accenture presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $387.22.

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.