Accenture plc (NYSE:ACN) Shares Sold by Haverford Trust Co

Haverford Trust Co trimmed its stake in shares of Accenture plc (NYSE:ACN) by 11.2% in the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 686,753 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock after selling 86,391 shares during the period. Accenture makes up 2.4% of Haverford Trust Co’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 10th biggest position. Haverford Trust Co’s holdings in Accenture were worth $242,753,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Unique Wealth Strategies LLC acquired a new position in Accenture during the 2nd quarter worth $26,000. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC acquired a new position in shares of Accenture during the 2nd quarter worth about $28,000. Mowery & Schoenfeld Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Accenture by 607.1% during the 3rd quarter. Mowery & Schoenfeld Wealth Management LLC now owns 99 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $35,000 after acquiring an additional 85 shares in the last quarter. Creekmur Asset Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Accenture by 108.0% during the 1st quarter. Creekmur Asset Management LLC now owns 104 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $36,000 after acquiring an additional 54 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Tsfg LLC boosted its position in shares of Accenture by 31.1% during the 2nd quarter. Tsfg LLC now owns 135 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $41,000 after acquiring an additional 32 shares in the last quarter. 75.14% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Accenture Stock Up 0.9 %

ACN stock opened at $360.64 on Wednesday. Accenture plc has a 52-week low of $278.69 and a 52-week high of $387.51. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $353.95 and its 200-day simple moving average is $325.80. The stock has a market capitalization of $225.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.55, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.11 and a beta of 1.25.

Accenture (NYSE:ACN) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, September 26th. The information technology services provider reported $2.79 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.78 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $16.41 billion for 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%. The business’s revenue was up 2.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $2.71 earnings per share. As a group, analysts anticipate that Accenture plc will post 12.77 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Accenture declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share buyback plan on Thursday, September 26th that authorizes the company to repurchase $4.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the information technology services provider to purchase up to 1.8% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are typically an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Accenture Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, October 10th will be given a $1.48 dividend. This is a positive change from Accenture’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.29. This represents a $5.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.64%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, October 10th. Accenture’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 51.79%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Accenture news, CEO Ryoji Sekido sold 3,191 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $343.70, for a total value of $1,096,746.70. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 6 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,062.20. 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 available through this hyperlink. In related 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 value of $170,948.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 9,777 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,649,265.25. This trade represents a 0.00 % 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, CEO Ryoji Sekido sold 3,191 shares of Accenture stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $343.70, for a total value of $1,096,746.70. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 6 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,062.20. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 36,298 shares of company stock valued at $13,372,661. 0.07% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on ACN shares. Piper Sandler raised Accenture from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $329.00 to $395.00 in a research report on Thursday, September 26th. Piper Sandler Companies reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $329.00 price objective on shares of Accenture in a research report on Friday, September 20th. StockNews.com downgraded Accenture from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Robert W. Baird boosted 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, Royal Bank of Canada boosted their target price on Accenture from $377.00 to $389.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, September 27th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $368.23.

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.