Short Interest in Accenture plc (NYSE:ACN) Declines By 5.9%

Accenture plc (NYSE:ACN) saw a large drop in short interest in the month of March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totalling 7,070,000 shares, a drop of 5.9% from the March 15th total of 7,510,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 2,310,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 3.1 days. Approximately 1.1% of the shares of the company are sold short.

Accenture Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:ACN opened at $314.73 on Thursday. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $357.35 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $341.95. The company has a market capitalization of $211.10 billion, a PE ratio of 28.53, a PEG ratio of 2.97 and a beta of 1.19. Accenture has a 52 week low of $261.68 and a 52 week high of $387.51.

Accenture (NYSE:ACN) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, March 21st. The information technology services provider reported $2.77 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.66 by $0.11. Accenture had a return on equity of 28.30% and a net margin of 10.89%. The firm had revenue of $15.80 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $15.85 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.69 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down .1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Accenture will post 12.09 earnings per share for the current year.

Accenture Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 11th will be paid a $1.29 dividend. This represents a $5.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.64%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, April 10th. Accenture’s payout ratio is currently 46.78%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have recently weighed in on ACN shares. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price objective on shares of Accenture from $374.00 to $381.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, March 22nd. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on Accenture from $400.00 to $417.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, March 18th. Mizuho restated a “buy” rating and set a $398.00 target price (down previously from $426.00) on shares of Accenture in a report on Friday, March 22nd. Redburn Atlantic upped their price target on shares of Accenture from $410.00 to $445.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 19th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lowered their price objective on shares of Accenture from $385.00 to $375.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, March 22nd. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $387.00.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CFO Kathleen R. Mcclure sold 851 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, January 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $371.77, for a total value of $316,376.27. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 50,737 shares in the company, valued at $18,862,494.49. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In related news, CEO Jean-Marc Ollagnier sold 6,250 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, April 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $315.91, for a total value of $1,974,437.50. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 161,581 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $51,045,053.71. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CFO Kathleen R. Mcclure sold 851 shares of Accenture stock in a transaction on Monday, January 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $371.77, for a total value of $316,376.27. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 50,737 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $18,862,494.49. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 41,750 shares of company stock worth $14,543,436. 0.07% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Accenture

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Pin Oak Investment Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Accenture by 8.2% in the fourth quarter. Pin Oak Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 357 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $125,000 after purchasing an additional 27 shares in the last quarter. Hilltop Partners LLC lifted its stake in Accenture by 3.1% in the 4th quarter. Hilltop Partners LLC now owns 888 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $312,000 after acquiring an additional 27 shares in the last quarter. Brave Asset Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Accenture by 2.8% during the 4th quarter. Brave Asset Management Inc. now owns 1,028 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $361,000 after acquiring an additional 28 shares in the last quarter. Addison Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Accenture by 0.9% in the fourth quarter. Addison Advisors LLC now owns 3,181 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $1,116,000 after purchasing an additional 28 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Searle & CO. grew its position in Accenture by 3.6% in the fourth quarter. Searle & CO. now owns 803 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $282,000 after purchasing an additional 28 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 75.14% of the company’s stock.

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.