MML Investors Services LLC increased its position in Accenture plc (NYSE:ACN - Free Report) by 1.8% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 135,197 shares of the information technology services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 2,356 shares during the period. MML Investors Services LLC's holdings in Accenture were worth $47,561,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.
Other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. grew its stake in 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 in the last quarter. FPC Investment Advisory Inc. raised its position in Accenture by 62.2% during the fourth quarter. FPC Investment Advisory Inc. now owns 73 shares of the information technology services provider's stock valued at $28,000 after acquiring an additional 28 shares in the last quarter. New England Professional Planning Group Inc. grew its position in Accenture by 4.6% in the fourth quarter. New England Professional Planning Group Inc. now owns 655 shares of the information technology services provider's stock worth $230,000 after acquiring an additional 29 shares in the last quarter. Nemes Rush Group LLC raised its holdings in shares of Accenture by 7.5% during the 4th quarter. Nemes Rush Group LLC now owns 418 shares of the information technology services provider's stock valued at $147,000 after purchasing an additional 29 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Neville Rodie & Shaw Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Accenture by 4.3% in the 4th quarter. Neville Rodie & Shaw Inc. now owns 725 shares of the information technology services provider's stock valued at $255,000 after purchasing an additional 30 shares during the last quarter. 75.14% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.
Accenture Price Performance
NYSE:ACN traded up $4.30 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $288.26. 2,762,320 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,008,715. The company has a quick ratio of 1.47, a current ratio of 1.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17. The stock has a market cap of $180.55 billion, a PE ratio of 24.18, a PEG ratio of 3.23 and a beta of 1.32. The company has a fifty day moving average of $319.94 and a 200 day moving average of $348.16. Accenture plc has a 12 month low of $275.01 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 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.81 by $0.01. Accenture had a net margin of 11.41% and a return on equity of 26.91%. The company had revenue of $16.70 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $16.64 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $2.77 EPS. The company's revenue was up 5.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts anticipate that Accenture plc will post 12.73 EPS for the current fiscal year.
Accenture Announces Dividend
The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, April 10th will be issued a dividend of $1.48 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 10th. This represents a $5.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.05%. Accenture's payout ratio is 48.89%.
Analysts Set New Price Targets
Several equities analysts have weighed in on the company. StockNews.com lowered Accenture from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Tuesday, March 11th. Barclays decreased their target price on Accenture from $415.00 to $390.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, March 24th. Piper Sandler reduced their price objective on shares of Accenture from $364.00 to $355.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 16th. Guggenheim lowered their price target on Accenture from $400.00 to $395.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, March 21st. Finally, Baird R W upgraded Accenture from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Monday, March 17th. Eight equities research 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 stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $377.82.
View Our Latest Stock Analysis on Accenture
Insider Activity
In other news, General Counsel Joel Unruch sold 3,563 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Friday, April 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $281.78, for a total value of $1,003,982.14. Following the completion of the transaction, the general counsel now owns 17,237 shares in the company, valued at $4,857,041.86. This trade represents a 17.13 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Angela Beatty sold 169 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, April 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $281.90, for a total value of $47,641.10. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 5,364 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,512,111.60. This trade represents a 3.05 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 22,291 shares of company stock worth $7,880,886 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.02% of the company's stock.
About Accenture
(
Free Report)
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.
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