Diversify Advisory Services LLC Cuts Stock Position in Accenture plc (NYSE:ACN)

Diversify Advisory Services LLC trimmed its position in shares of Accenture plc (NYSE:ACN) by 18.9% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 8,889 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock after selling 2,076 shares during the period. Diversify Advisory Services LLC’s holdings in Accenture were worth $3,305,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Unique Wealth Strategies LLC bought a new stake in shares of Accenture in the 2nd quarter valued at about $26,000. Mowery & Schoenfeld Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in Accenture by 607.1% in the third 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 last quarter. CarsonAllaria Wealth Management Ltd. purchased a new stake in shares of Accenture during the first quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Creekmur Asset Management LLC grew its holdings 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 worth $36,000 after purchasing an additional 54 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Chilton Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Accenture by 57.1% during the 1st quarter. Chilton Capital Management LLC now owns 110 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $38,000 after buying an additional 40 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.14% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

ACN has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Guggenheim boosted their price objective on shares of Accenture from $380.00 to $395.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, September 27th. Robert W. Baird increased their price objective on Accenture from $350.00 to $370.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, September 27th. TD Cowen raised Accenture from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $321.00 to $400.00 in a research note on Monday, September 30th. Piper Sandler raised Accenture from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $329.00 to $395.00 in a research note on Thursday, September 26th. Finally, Susquehanna boosted their price objective on shares of Accenture from $350.00 to $360.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, September 27th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $371.18.

Accenture Stock Down 0.2 %

ACN traded down $0.64 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $360.68. 93,766 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,709,804. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $350.88 and its 200-day moving average price is $323.18. The stock has a market capitalization of $226.04 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.09, a P/E/G ratio of 3.47 and a beta of 1.25. Accenture plc has a 52-week low of $278.69 and a 52-week high of $387.51.

Accenture (NYSE:ACN) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 company had revenue of $16.41 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $16.37 billion. Accenture had a return on equity of 26.83% and a net margin of 11.20%. Accenture’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $2.71 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Accenture plc will post 12.79 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Accenture Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, October 10th will be issued a dividend of $1.48 per share. This is a boost from Accenture’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.29. This represents a $5.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.64%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, October 10th. Accenture’s dividend payout ratio is currently 54.21%.

Accenture declared that its board has authorized a stock buyback plan on Thursday, September 26th that authorizes the company to buyback $4.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the information technology services provider to purchase up to 1.8% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are typically a sign that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Activity

In other news, CAO Melissa A. Burgum sold 458 shares of Accenture stock in a transaction dated Thursday, October 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $373.25, for a total transaction of $170,948.50. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 9,777 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,649,265.25. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In related news, CFO Kathleen R. Mcclure sold 5,090 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, October 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $373.22, for a total transaction of $1,899,689.80. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 38,825 shares in the company, valued at approximately $14,490,266.50. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Melissa A. Burgum sold 458 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, October 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $373.25, for a total value of $170,948.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 9,777 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,649,265.25. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 24,971 shares of company stock valued at $9,330,113 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.07% of the company’s stock.

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.