Accenture plc (NYSE:ACN) Position Cut by Northwest Investment Counselors LLC

Northwest Investment Counselors LLC trimmed its holdings in shares of Accenture plc (NYSE:ACN) by 1.2% during the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 15,019 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock after selling 184 shares during the period. Accenture makes up approximately 1.2% of Northwest Investment Counselors LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 18th largest holding. Northwest Investment Counselors LLC’s holdings in Accenture were worth $5,309,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Unique Wealth Strategies LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Accenture in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $26,000. Annapolis Financial Services LLC boosted its stake in Accenture by 507.7% during the 1st quarter. Annapolis Financial Services LLC now owns 79 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 66 shares in the last quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC bought a new stake in shares of Accenture in the 2nd quarter worth $28,000. CarsonAllaria Wealth Management Ltd. acquired a new stake in shares of Accenture in the first quarter valued at $35,000. Finally, Tsfg LLC boosted its stake in Accenture by 267.9% during the first quarter. Tsfg LLC now owns 103 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $36,000 after buying an additional 75 shares in the last quarter. 75.14% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Accenture Stock Down 0.2 %

Shares of NYSE:ACN traded down $0.73 on Monday, reaching $376.13. The company had a trading volume of 733,753 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,729,522. The stock has a market capitalization of $235.72 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.51, a P/E/G ratio of 3.47 and a beta of 1.25. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $345.48 and a 200 day moving average price of $321.59. Accenture plc has a twelve month low of $278.69 and a twelve month high of $387.51.

Accenture (NYSE:ACN) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, September 26th. The information technology services provider reported $2.79 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 in the prior year, the business earned $2.71 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 2.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Accenture plc will post 12.79 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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

Accenture Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed 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. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, October 10th. This represents a $5.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.57%. This is a positive change from Accenture’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.29. Accenture’s dividend payout ratio is currently 54.21%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, 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 sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 9,777 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,649,265.25. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In related news, COO John F. Walsh sold 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $373.24, for a total transaction of $1,866,200.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 17,593 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,566,411.32. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CAO Melissa A. Burgum sold 458 shares of the 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 sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 9,777 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,649,265.25. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 15,548 shares of company stock worth $5,585,938. 0.07% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

ACN has been the subject of several research reports. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Accenture from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, September 27th. Morgan Stanley cut Accenture from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and dropped their price target for the company from $382.00 to $300.00 in a report on Wednesday, June 26th. UBS Group lifted their target price on Accenture from $400.00 to $415.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, September 27th. Robert W. Baird upped their target price on Accenture from $350.00 to $370.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, September 27th. Finally, Guggenheim upped their price objective on shares of Accenture from $380.00 to $395.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, September 27th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Accenture has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average 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.