Aprio Wealth Management LLC Grows Stake in Accenture plc (NYSE:ACN)

Aprio Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in Accenture plc (NYSE:ACN) by 44.5% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 1,607 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock after buying an additional 495 shares during the quarter. Aprio Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Accenture were worth $565,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the business. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC raised its position in shares of Accenture by 378.9% in the 3rd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 5,491,736 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $1,941,219,000 after acquiring an additional 4,345,039 shares in the last quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC raised its position in shares of Accenture by 44.7% in the 2nd quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 2,709,989 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $822,238,000 after acquiring an additional 837,677 shares in the last quarter. 1832 Asset Management L.P. raised its position in shares of Accenture by 251.3% in the 2nd quarter. 1832 Asset Management L.P. now owns 995,896 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $302,165,000 after acquiring an additional 712,400 shares in the last quarter. Holocene Advisors LP bought a new position in shares of Accenture in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $204,895,000. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its position in shares of Accenture by 37,788.5% in the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 510,358 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $180,401,000 after acquiring an additional 509,011 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.14% of the company’s stock.

Accenture Price Performance

Shares of NYSE ACN opened at $349.93 on Monday. The business’s 50 day moving average is $357.82 and its two-hundred day moving average is $344.30. Accenture plc has a 1-year low of $278.69 and a 1-year high of $387.51. The stock has a market capitalization of $218.98 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.62, a PEG ratio of 3.23 and a beta of 1.24.

Accenture (NYSE:ACN) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, December 19th. The information technology services provider reported $3.59 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.43 by $0.16. Accenture had a return on equity of 26.83% and a net margin of 11.20%. The company had revenue of $17.69 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $17.15 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $3.27 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Accenture plc will post 12.74 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Accenture Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 14th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, January 16th will be given a dividend of $1.48 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, January 16th. This represents a $5.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.69%. Accenture’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 49.66%.

Accenture announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a share repurchase plan on Thursday, September 26th that permits the company to repurchase $4.00 billion in 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 plans are usually a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

ACN has been the subject of several research reports. Jefferies Financial Group increased their target price on Accenture from $355.00 to $385.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, December 20th. 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. Wolfe Research raised Accenture from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $425.00 target price for the company in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Robert W. Baird reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $370.00 target price on shares of Accenture in a report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Finally, BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on Accenture from $390.00 to $425.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, December 20th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have issued 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 an average target price of $385.04.

Insider Buying and Selling at Accenture

In other Accenture news, CEO Ryoji Sekido sold 3,191 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $343.70, for a total transaction of $1,096,746.70. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 6 shares in the company, valued at $2,062.20. The trade was a 99.81 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, insider Angela Beatty sold 673 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $372.18, for a total value of $250,477.14. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 5,650 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,102,817. The trade was a 10.64 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 36,673 shares of company stock worth $13,507,099 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.02% of the company’s stock.

Accenture 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.