Accenture PLC (NYSE:ACN) Position Increased by Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank

Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank raised its holdings in shares of Accenture PLC (NYSE:ACN) by 27.5% in the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 652,777 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 140,770 shares during the quarter. Accenture comprises about 0.6% of Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 23rd biggest holding. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank’s holdings in Accenture were worth $203,693,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Visionary Wealth Advisors grew its position in Accenture by 3.5% in the 4th quarter. Visionary Wealth Advisors now owns 778 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $274,000 after buying an additional 26 shares in the last quarter. Vivaldi Capital Management LP grew its position in Accenture by 3.6% in the 4th quarter. Vivaldi Capital Management LP now owns 782 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $292,000 after buying an additional 27 shares in the last quarter. Nemes Rush Group LLC grew its position in Accenture by 7.5% in the 4th quarter. Nemes Rush Group LLC now owns 418 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $147,000 after buying an additional 29 shares in the last quarter. Tradition Wealth Management LLC grew its position in Accenture by 0.3% in the 4th quarter. Tradition Wealth Management LLC now owns 10,981 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $3,863,000 after buying an additional 30 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sentinus LLC grew its position in Accenture by 4.2% in the 4th quarter. Sentinus LLC now owns 763 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $268,000 after buying an additional 31 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 75.14% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Accenture news, COO John F. Walsh sold 2,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the chief operating officer owned 15,882 shares in the company, valued at $5,161,650. This trade represents a 13.60% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Julie Spellman Sweet sold 2,251 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $282.45, for a total value of $635,794.95. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 8,109 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,290,387.05. This trade represents a 21.73% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 5,454 shares of company stock worth $1,646,780. 0.02% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Accenture Trading Up 0.5%

NYSE:ACN opened at $283.10 on Friday. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $302.60 and its 200 day moving average price is $322.12. Accenture PLC has a 52 week low of $273.19 and a 52 week high of $398.35. The company has a market capitalization of $177.31 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.54, a P/E/G ratio of 2.68 and a beta of 1.29. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a quick ratio of 1.46 and a current ratio of 1.46.

Accenture (NYSE:ACN) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, June 20th. The information technology services provider reported $3.49 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.32 by $0.17. Accenture had a return on equity of 26.55% and a net margin of 11.61%. The company had revenue of $17.73 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $17.26 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $3.13 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts forecast that Accenture PLC will post 12.73 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Accenture Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, July 10th will be issued a dividend of $1.48 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, July 10th. This represents a $5.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.09%. Accenture’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 47.13%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on ACN shares. Barclays cut their price target on shares of Accenture from $390.00 to $360.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, June 23rd. Evercore ISI started coverage on shares of Accenture in a report on Thursday, July 17th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $330.00 price target for the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of Accenture from $349.00 to $353.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, June 16th. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on shares of Accenture from $340.00 to $325.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, June 24th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft began coverage on shares of Accenture in a research note on Thursday, July 17th. They set a “hold” rating and a $290.00 price objective for the company. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $365.43.

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.