Smithbridge Asset Management Inc. DE Has $9.08 Million Stock Holdings in Accenture plc (NYSE:ACN)

Smithbridge Asset Management Inc. DE decreased its stake in Accenture plc (NYSE:ACN) by 9.9% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 25,672 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock after selling 2,821 shares during the quarter. Accenture makes up about 1.6% of Smithbridge Asset Management Inc. DE’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 19th largest position. Smithbridge Asset Management Inc. DE’s holdings in Accenture were worth $9,075,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in ACN. Unique Wealth Strategies LLC acquired a new position in Accenture in the second quarter valued at about $26,000. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC bought a new position in Accenture in the second quarter valued at approximately $28,000. CarsonAllaria Wealth Management Ltd. acquired a new position in Accenture during the first quarter worth $35,000. Mowery & Schoenfeld Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Accenture by 607.1% in the 3rd quarter. Mowery & Schoenfeld Wealth Management LLC now owns 99 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 85 shares during the period. Finally, Creekmur Asset Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Accenture by 108.0% in the first quarter. Creekmur Asset Management LLC now owns 104 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $36,000 after buying an additional 54 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 75.14% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other Accenture news, CAO Melissa A. Burgum sold 458 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, October 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $373.25, for a total transaction of $170,948.50. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 9,777 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,649,265.25. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other Accenture news, insider Angela Beatty sold 673 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $372.18, for a total value of $250,477.14. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 5,650 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,102,817. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Melissa A. Burgum sold 458 shares of Accenture stock in a transaction dated Thursday, October 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $373.25, for a total transaction of $170,948.50. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 9,777 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,649,265.25. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 24,971 shares of company stock valued at $9,330,113. Corporate insiders own 0.07% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

ACN has been the topic of a number of research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on Accenture from $376.00 to $370.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, September 24th. StockNews.com downgraded Accenture from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday. Piper Sandler upgraded shares of Accenture from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $329.00 to $395.00 in a research report on Thursday, September 26th. Robert W. Baird lifted their price target on Accenture from $350.00 to $370.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, September 27th. Finally, Susquehanna increased their price objective on Accenture from $350.00 to $360.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, September 27th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $371.18.

Accenture Trading Up 1.5 %

Shares of ACN opened at $366.20 on Monday. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $350.24 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $322.93. The firm has a market cap of $229.49 billion, a PE ratio of 33.04, a P/E/G ratio of 3.47 and a beta of 1.25. Accenture plc has a 1-year low of $278.69 and a 1-year high of $387.51.

Accenture (NYSE:ACN) last released its earnings results on Thursday, September 26th. The information technology services provider reported $2.79 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.78 by $0.01. Accenture had a return on equity of 26.83% and a net margin of 11.20%. The firm had revenue of $16.41 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $16.37 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $2.71 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 2.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts forecast that Accenture plc will post 12.79 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Accenture announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a share buyback plan on Thursday, September 26th that permits the company to repurchase $4.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the information technology services provider to buy up to 1.8% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are usually a sign that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Accenture Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, October 10th will be given a dividend of $1.48 per share. This represents a $5.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.62%. This is an increase from Accenture’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.29. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, October 10th. Accenture’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 54.21%.

Accenture 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.