Accenture plc (NYSE:ACN) Shares Sold by Professional Advisory Services Inc.

Professional Advisory Services Inc. cut its position in Accenture plc (NYSE:ACN) by 5.8% during the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 64,717 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock after selling 4,019 shares during the period. Accenture makes up 3.0% of Professional Advisory Services Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 11th largest position. Professional Advisory Services Inc.’s holdings in Accenture were worth $22,876,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Annapolis Financial Services LLC boosted its stake in shares of Accenture by 507.7% in the first quarter. Annapolis Financial Services LLC now owns 79 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $27,000 after buying an additional 66 shares during the last quarter. Unique Wealth Strategies LLC purchased a new position in Accenture during the second quarter worth approximately $26,000. CarsonAllaria Wealth Management Ltd. purchased a new position in Accenture during the first quarter worth approximately $35,000. Tsfg LLC boosted its position in Accenture by 267.9% during the first quarter. Tsfg LLC now owns 103 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $36,000 after purchasing an additional 75 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Creekmur Asset Management LLC boosted its position in Accenture by 108.0% during 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 in the last quarter. 75.14% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Accenture Stock Up 0.8 %

ACN stock opened at $375.15 on Friday. Accenture plc has a 52-week low of $278.69 and a 52-week high of $387.51. The business has a fifty day moving average of $344.26 and a two-hundred day moving average of $321.51. The stock has a market cap of $235.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.37, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.47 and a beta of 1.25.

Accenture (NYSE:ACN) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, September 26th. The information technology services provider reported $2.79 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 business had revenue of $16.41 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $16.37 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.71 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 2.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Accenture plc will post 12.79 EPS for the current year.

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

Accenture Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, October 10th will be issued a $1.48 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, October 10th. This is a positive change from Accenture’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.29. This represents a $5.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.58%. Accenture’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 54.21%.

Insider Activity at Accenture

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

ACN has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Piper Sandler upgraded Accenture from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $329.00 to $395.00 in a research report on Thursday, September 26th. StockNews.com upgraded Accenture from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, September 27th. BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on Accenture from $380.00 to $390.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, September 27th. Bank of America raised their target price on Accenture from $365.00 to $388.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, September 27th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on Accenture from $376.00 to $370.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, September 24th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Accenture currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $371.18.

Accenture Company Profile

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.