Accenture plc (NYSE:ACN) Position Lowered by Stonegate Investment Group LLC

Stonegate Investment Group LLC decreased its stake in shares of Accenture plc (NYSE:ACN) by 23.8% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 25,753 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock after selling 8,036 shares during the period. Stonegate Investment Group LLC’s holdings in Accenture were worth $9,103,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of ACN. M3 Advisory Group LLC bought a new position in Accenture in the third quarter worth about $256,000. V Square Quantitative Management LLC lifted its holdings in Accenture by 6.6% in the third quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC now owns 13,865 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $4,901,000 after acquiring an additional 854 shares during the last quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd lifted its holdings in Accenture by 3.3% in the third quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd now owns 108,512 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $38,357,000 after acquiring an additional 3,452 shares during the last quarter. TruWealth Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Accenture by 2.2% in the third quarter. TruWealth Advisors LLC now owns 44,208 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $15,627,000 after acquiring an additional 958 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Vista Investment Partners LLC lifted its holdings in Accenture by 0.3% in the third quarter. Vista Investment Partners LLC now owns 13,228 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $4,676,000 after acquiring an additional 42 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 75.14% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Accenture news, insider Ellyn Shook sold 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $329.82, for a total value of $1,649,100.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 8,989 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,964,751.98. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, insider Ellyn Shook sold 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $329.82, for a total value of $1,649,100.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 8,989 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,964,751.98. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, General Counsel Joel Unruch sold 8,145 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $331.05, for a total transaction of $2,696,402.25. Following the completion of the transaction, the general counsel now owns 22,849 shares in the company, valued at $7,564,161.45. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.07% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Accenture Trading Up 0.2 %

Shares of ACN stock traded up $0.65 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $375.80. 397,225 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,731,997. Accenture plc has a 52 week low of $278.69 and a 52 week high of $387.51. The business has a 50 day moving average of $344.26 and a two-hundred day moving average of $321.51. The company has a market capitalization of $235.51 billion, a PE ratio of 34.37, a PEG ratio of 3.47 and a beta of 1.25.

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

Accenture announced that its board has initiated a stock buyback program 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 stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are generally an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Accenture Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, October 10th will be given a dividend of $1.48 per share. This represents a $5.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.58%. This is a positive change 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 currently 54.21%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have issued reports on ACN. Citigroup raised their target price on shares of Accenture from $350.00 to $405.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 17th. Guggenheim lifted their price target on Accenture from $380.00 to $395.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, September 27th. Piper Sandler raised Accenture from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $329.00 to $395.00 in a report on Thursday, September 26th. Piper Sandler Companies reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $329.00 price target on shares of Accenture in a report on Friday, September 20th. Finally, Morgan Stanley cut Accenture from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and cut their price target for the company from $382.00 to $300.00 in a report on Wednesday, June 26th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $371.18.

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.