Praxis Investment Management Inc. Reduces Stock Holdings in Accenture PLC (NYSE:ACN)

Praxis Investment Management Inc. reduced its holdings in Accenture PLC (NYSE:ACN) by 13.1% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 22,629 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock after selling 3,410 shares during the period. Praxis Investment Management Inc.’s holdings in Accenture were worth $7,061,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. Marietta Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in Accenture by 6.4% during the first quarter. Marietta Wealth Management LLC now owns 22,958 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $7,164,000 after buying an additional 1,374 shares in the last quarter. World Equity Group Inc. purchased a new stake in Accenture during the first quarter worth $682,000. GAM Holding AG boosted its holdings in Accenture by 18.6% during the first quarter. GAM Holding AG now owns 4,768 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $1,488,000 after buying an additional 748 shares in the last quarter. Stonegate Investment Group LLC boosted its holdings in Accenture by 1.0% during the first quarter. Stonegate Investment Group LLC now owns 23,729 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $7,404,000 after buying an additional 237 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cabot Wealth Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Accenture by 2.9% during the first quarter. Cabot Wealth Management Inc. now owns 33,441 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $10,435,000 after buying an additional 955 shares in the last quarter. 75.14% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Accenture

In related news, CEO Julie Spellman Sweet sold 2,284 shares of Accenture stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, April 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $281.63, for a total value of $643,242.92. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 9,965 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,806,442.95. This trade represents a 18.65% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Angela Beatty sold 169 shares of Accenture stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, April 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $281.90, for a total transaction of $47,641.10. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 5,364 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,512,111.60. This trade represents a 3.05% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 8,516 shares of company stock worth $2,507,366 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.02% of the company’s stock.

Accenture Trading Down 6.8%

ACN opened at $285.66 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17, a current ratio of 1.48 and a quick ratio of 1.48. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $306.98 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $333.86. Accenture PLC has a 1-year low of $273.19 and a 1-year high of $398.35. The firm has a market capitalization of $178.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.59, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.09 and a beta of 1.33.

Accenture (NYSE:ACN) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, June 20th. The information technology services provider reported $3.49 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.32 by $0.17. The business had revenue of $17.73 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $17.26 billion. Accenture had a net margin of 11.43% and a return on equity of 26.49%. The business’s revenue was up 7.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $3.13 EPS. Analysts expect that Accenture PLC will post 12.73 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Accenture Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, July 10th will be issued a dividend of $1.48 per share. This represents a $5.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.07%. Accenture’s dividend payout ratio is currently 48.89%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Benchmark reissued a “mixed” rating on shares of Accenture in a report on Friday. Baird R W upgraded shares of Accenture from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, March 17th. BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on shares of Accenture to $355.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 26th. Mizuho decreased their price target on shares of Accenture from $428.00 to $398.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, March 19th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of Accenture from $349.00 to $353.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, June 16th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Accenture currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $380.00.

Accenture Company 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.