BTS Asset Management Inc. Invests $286,000 in Accenture plc (NYSE:ACN)

BTS Asset Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Accenture plc (NYSE:ACN) during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 813 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $286,000. Accenture makes up about 0.3% of BTS Asset Management Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 25th largest position.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in ACN. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Accenture by 1.1% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 59,718,732 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $20,699,110,000 after buying an additional 635,349 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its holdings in shares of Accenture by 1.2% in the 2nd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 10,912,962 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $3,311,102,000 after acquiring an additional 131,544 shares in the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors grew its holdings in shares of Accenture by 2.0% during the first quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 8,652,537 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $2,999,056,000 after purchasing an additional 173,107 shares in the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc increased its position in shares of Accenture by 1.4% in the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 5,887,266 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $1,786,256,000 after purchasing an additional 80,514 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Lazard Asset Management LLC raised its stake in Accenture by 4.1% in the first quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 3,797,028 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $1,316,086,000 after purchasing an additional 148,738 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.14% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Julie Spellman Sweet sold 9,000 shares of Accenture stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $376.16, for a total transaction of $3,385,440.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 20,324 shares in the company, valued at $7,645,075.84. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In related news, CFO Kathleen R. Mcclure sold 5,090 shares of the firm’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 owns 38,825 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $14,490,266.50. This trade represents 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. Also, CEO Julie Spellman Sweet sold 9,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, October 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $376.16, for a total value of $3,385,440.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 20,324 shares in the company, valued at $7,645,075.84. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 20,221 shares of company stock worth $7,572,755. Company insiders own 0.07% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently commented on ACN. Piper Sandler raised shares of 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 report on Thursday, September 26th. Barclays raised their price target on Accenture from $350.00 to $415.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, September 30th. Citigroup upped their price objective on Accenture from $350.00 to $405.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 17th. Mizuho raised their price objective on Accenture from $352.00 to $365.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 18th. Finally, TD Cowen raised Accenture from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $321.00 to $400.00 in a research note on Monday, September 30th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $371.18.

Accenture Price Performance

ACN opened at $370.63 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $232.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.94, a PEG ratio of 3.47 and a beta of 1.25. Accenture plc has a one year low of $278.69 and a one year high of $387.51. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $348.78 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $322.52.

Accenture (NYSE:ACN) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, September 26th. The information technology services provider reported $2.79 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.78 by $0.01. Accenture had a net margin of 11.20% and a return on equity of 26.83%. The business had revenue of $16.41 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $16.37 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $2.71 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Accenture plc will post 12.79 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Accenture declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share buyback program 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 buy up to 1.8% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are often an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Accenture Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 15th. Shareholders 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.60%. Accenture’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 54.21%.

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.