Everence Capital Management Inc. Sells 8,730 Shares of Accenture plc (NYSE:ACN)

Everence Capital Management Inc. lessened its holdings in shares of Accenture plc (NYSE:ACN) by 25.1% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 26,039 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock after selling 8,730 shares during the quarter. Accenture accounts for approximately 0.6% of Everence Capital Management Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 28th largest holding. Everence Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Accenture were worth $9,160,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Masso Torrence Wealth Management Inc. increased its holdings in Accenture by 2.0% in the 3rd quarter. Masso Torrence Wealth Management Inc. now owns 1,447 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $511,000 after acquiring an additional 28 shares in the last quarter. BSW Wealth Partners boosted its position in shares of Accenture by 0.7% in the third quarter. BSW Wealth Partners now owns 4,077 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $1,441,000 after purchasing an additional 28 shares during the period. Slow Capital Inc. raised its position in shares of Accenture by 0.3% during the 3rd quarter. Slow Capital Inc. now owns 9,067 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $3,205,000 after purchasing an additional 29 shares during the period. Tradition Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Accenture by 0.3% during the 3rd quarter. Tradition Wealth Management LLC now owns 10,951 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $3,871,000 after buying an additional 29 shares in the last quarter. Finally, NBC Securities Inc. increased its stake in Accenture by 0.6% in the 3rd quarter. NBC Securities Inc. now owns 5,206 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $1,840,000 after buying an additional 30 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 75.14% of the company’s stock.

Accenture Trading Up 1.2 %

Shares of ACN traded up $4.27 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $353.09. 523,751 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,346,401. The firm has a market cap of $220.96 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.89, a PEG ratio of 3.23 and a beta of 1.24. Accenture plc has a 12-month low of $278.69 and a 12-month high of $387.51. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $357.73 and its 200 day moving average price is $341.35.

Accenture (NYSE:ACN) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, December 19th. The information technology services provider reported $3.59 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.43 by $0.16. Accenture had a net margin of 11.20% and a return on equity of 26.83%. The business had revenue of $17.69 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $17.15 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $3.27 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts forecast that Accenture plc will post 12.74 earnings per share for the current year.

Accenture announced that its board has authorized 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 purchase up to 1.8% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are generally a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Accenture Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 14th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, January 16th will be issued a $1.48 dividend. This represents a $5.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.68%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, January 16th. Accenture’s dividend payout ratio is 49.66%.

Insider Activity

In other news, COO John F. Walsh sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, October 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $373.24, for a total transaction of $1,866,200.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 17,593 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,566,411.32. This trade represents a 22.13 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CFO Kathleen R. Mcclure sold 5,090 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 38,825 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $14,490,266.50. This trade represents a 11.59 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 36,673 shares of company stock worth $13,507,099. Company insiders own 0.02% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts recently issued reports on the company. Mizuho increased their target price on Accenture from $352.00 to $365.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 18th. Robert W. Baird restated a “neutral” rating and set a $370.00 target price on shares of Accenture in a research report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price target on shares of Accenture from $377.00 to $389.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, September 27th. Citigroup increased their price objective on shares of Accenture from $350.00 to $405.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 17th. Finally, Guggenheim lifted their target price on Accenture from $380.00 to $395.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, September 27th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Accenture presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $383.23.

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.