Accenture plc (NYSE:ACN) Shares Sold by Salem Investment Counselors Inc.

Salem Investment Counselors Inc. lowered its stake in Accenture plc (NYSE:ACN) by 2.0% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 78,397 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock after selling 1,612 shares during the quarter. Accenture comprises about 0.9% of Salem Investment Counselors Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 25th biggest holding. Salem Investment Counselors Inc.’s holdings in Accenture were worth $24,463,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. FPC Investment Advisory Inc. boosted its position in shares of Accenture by 62.2% during the 4th quarter. FPC Investment Advisory Inc. now owns 73 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 28 shares in the last quarter. Kohmann Bosshard Financial Services LLC acquired a new stake in Accenture during the 4th quarter valued at $30,000. Mpwm Advisory Solutions LLC purchased a new stake in Accenture in the 4th quarter worth about $30,000. Park Square Financial Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Accenture in the fourth quarter worth approximately $31,000. Finally, Promus Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Accenture during the 4th quarter valued at $34,000. 75.14% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Accenture Price Performance

Accenture stock opened at $318.02 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17, a quick ratio of 1.47 and a current ratio of 1.47. The stock has a market capitalization of $199.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.68, a PEG ratio of 3.23 and a beta of 1.33. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $304.89 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $336.13. Accenture plc has a 52-week low of $275.01 and a 52-week high of $398.35.

Accenture (NYSE:ACN) last posted its earnings results 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. The company had revenue of $16.70 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $16.64 billion. Accenture had a net margin of 11.41% and a return on equity of 26.91%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.77 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts predict that Accenture plc will post 12.73 earnings per share for the current year.

Accenture Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 10th were paid a $1.48 dividend. This represents a $5.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.86%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, April 10th. Accenture’s payout ratio is 48.89%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Accenture

In other Accenture news, CEO Julie Spellman Sweet sold 2,284 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, April 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $281.63, for a total value of $643,242.92. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 9,965 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,806,442.95. This trade represents a 18.65% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, COO John F. Walsh sold 2,500 shares of Accenture stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $325.00, for a total transaction of $812,500.00. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 15,882 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,161,650. This represents a 13.60% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 8,516 shares of company stock valued at $2,507,366. Company insiders own 0.02% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have commented on ACN shares. UBS Group reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $395.00 target price (up from $390.00) on shares of Accenture in a research report on Thursday, May 22nd. Barclays dropped their price target on Accenture from $415.00 to $390.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, March 24th. Mizuho reduced their target price on shares of Accenture from $428.00 to $398.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, March 19th. Piper Sandler decreased their price target on shares of Accenture from $364.00 to $355.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 16th. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut Accenture from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 11th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $382.15.

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.