Accenture plc (NYSE:ACN) Shares Bought by Americana Partners LLC

Americana Partners LLC raised its position in Accenture plc (NYSE:ACN) by 47.4% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 4,602 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,479 shares during the period. Americana Partners LLC’s holdings in Accenture were worth $1,627,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in ACN. Interchange Capital Partners LLC lifted its position in Accenture by 3.9% during the third quarter. Interchange Capital Partners LLC now owns 882 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $313,000 after buying an additional 33 shares during the period. Principal Securities Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Accenture by 11.9% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Securities Inc. now owns 13,140 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $4,645,000 after purchasing an additional 1,396 shares during the period. Reston Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Accenture in the 3rd quarter worth about $51,000. Baron Silver Stevens Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Accenture in the 3rd quarter worth about $347,000. Finally, Cordatus Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Accenture by 0.7% in the 3rd quarter. Cordatus Wealth Management LLC now owns 9,824 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $3,472,000 after purchasing an additional 68 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.14% of the company’s stock.

Accenture Price Performance

NYSE:ACN opened at $345.67 on Friday. Accenture plc has a 12-month low of $278.69 and a 12-month high of $387.51. The firm has a market capitalization of $216.10 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.24, a P/E/G ratio of 3.03 and a beta of 1.25. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $352.34 and a 200 day simple moving average of $324.05.

Accenture (NYSE:ACN) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, September 26th. The information technology services provider reported $2.79 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.78 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $16.41 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $16.37 billion. Accenture had a return on equity of 26.83% and a net margin of 11.20%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $2.71 EPS. Research analysts anticipate that Accenture plc will post 12.77 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Accenture declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share repurchase plan on Thursday, September 26th that permits the company to repurchase $4.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the information technology services provider to reacquire up to 1.8% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are usually a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Accenture Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, October 10th will be paid a $1.48 dividend. This represents a $5.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.71%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, October 10th. This is an increase from Accenture’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.29. Accenture’s payout ratio is currently 51.79%.

Insider Transactions at Accenture

In other news, CEO Julie Spellman Sweet sold 9,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, October 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $376.16, for a total value of $3,385,440.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 20,324 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,645,075.84. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In related news, CEO Julie Spellman Sweet sold 9,000 shares of Accenture stock in a transaction on Monday, October 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $376.16, for a total value of $3,385,440.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 20,324 shares in the company, valued at $7,645,075.84. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, General Counsel Joel Unruch sold 4,750 shares of Accenture stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $369.97, for a total value of $1,757,357.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the general counsel now owns 22,976 shares in the company, valued at $8,500,430.72. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 33,107 shares of company stock valued at $12,275,914. Corporate insiders own 0.07% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently commented on ACN shares. Barclays raised their target price on Accenture from $350.00 to $415.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, September 30th. UBS Group raised their target price on Accenture from $400.00 to $415.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, September 27th. StockNews.com downgraded Accenture from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Bank of America raised their target price on Accenture from $365.00 to $388.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, September 27th. Finally, Piper Sandler Companies restated a “neutral” rating and set a $329.00 price objective on shares of Accenture in a research note on Friday, September 20th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $368.23.

About Accenture

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.