Accenture (NYSE:ACN – Get Rating) posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday. The information technology services provider reported $2.79 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.84 by ($0.05), RTT News reports. Accenture had a return on equity of 31.50% and a net margin of 11.13%. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $2.40 EPS. Accenture updated its Q4 2022 guidance to EPS and its FY 2022 guidance to $10.61-$10.70 EPS.
Accenture stock traded up $13.54 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $299.37. 4,648,047 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,234,630. The stock has a market cap of $189.77 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.04, a P/E/G ratio of 2.81 and a beta of 1.24. Accenture has a 52-week low of $268.17 and a 52-week high of $417.37. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $294.55 and its 200 day moving average is $328.94.
The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, August 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, July 14th will be given a dividend of $0.97 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, July 13th. This represents a $3.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.30%. Accenture’s payout ratio is currently 37.63%.
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Several research analysts have commented on ACN shares. Robert W. Baird lowered their price target on shares of Accenture from $340.00 to $310.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Friday. BMO Capital Markets started coverage on shares of Accenture in a report on Friday. They set a “hold” rating and a $337.00 price target for the company. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their price target on shares of Accenture from $435.00 to $357.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday. Bank of America lowered their target price on shares of Accenture from $443.00 to $374.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, June 17th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered their target price on shares of Accenture from $440.00 to $364.00 in a report on Friday, June 17th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $360.03.
In other Accenture news, CEO Julie Spellman Sweet sold 3,287 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, April 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $315.22, for a total transaction of $1,036,128.14. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 19,836 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,252,703.92. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Jean-Marc Ollagnier sold 6,250 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $315.13, for a total transaction of $1,969,562.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 165,866 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $52,269,352.58. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 10,757 shares of company stock valued at $3,386,681. 0.07% of the stock is owned by insiders.
Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Nelson Van Denburg & Campbell Wealth Management Group LLC grew its stake in Accenture by 1,057.9% in the 1st quarter. Nelson Van Denburg & Campbell Wealth Management Group LLC now owns 220 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $74,000 after acquiring an additional 201 shares during the last quarter. IHT Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in Accenture by 6.5% in the 1st quarter. IHT Wealth Management LLC now owns 785 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $265,000 after acquiring an additional 48 shares during the last quarter. Wall Street Access Asset Management LLC grew its stake in Accenture by 4.9% in the 1st quarter. Wall Street Access Asset Management LLC now owns 830 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $279,000 after acquiring an additional 39 shares during the last quarter. Eudaimonia Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Accenture in the 1st quarter valued at about $315,000. Finally, KB Financial Partners LLC grew its stake in Accenture by 52.6% in the 1st quarter. KB Financial Partners LLC now owns 1,500 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $506,000 after acquiring an additional 517 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 74.46% of the company’s stock.
About Accenture (Get Rating)
Accenture plc, a professional services company, provides strategy and consulting, interactive, and technology and operations services worldwide. The company offers application services, including agile transformation, DevOps, application modernization, enterprise architecture, software and quality engineering, data management, intelligent automation comprises robotic process automation, natural language processing, and virtual agents, and liquid application management services, as well as program, project, and service management services; strategy consulting services; critical data elements, data management and governance, data platform and architecture, product-based organization and skills, business adoption, and value realization services; engineering, and research and development digitization; smart connected product design and development; product platform engineering and modernization; product as-a-service enablement; products related to production and operations; autonomous robotics systems; the digital transformation of capital projects; and digital industrial workforce solutions.
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