Accenture plc (NYSE:ACN) Shares Sold by Suncoast Equity Management

Suncoast Equity Management reduced its holdings in Accenture plc (NYSE:ACN) by 5.6% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 127,060 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock after selling 7,491 shares during the period. Accenture accounts for about 5.1% of Suncoast Equity Management’s portfolio, making the stock its 6th largest holding. Suncoast Equity Management’s holdings in Accenture were worth $44,913,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of ACN. Unique Wealth Strategies LLC bought a new position in shares of Accenture in the second quarter valued at $26,000. Annapolis Financial Services LLC grew its position in shares of Accenture by 507.7% in the 1st quarter. Annapolis Financial Services LLC now owns 79 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $27,000 after acquiring an additional 66 shares during the period. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC acquired a new position in shares of Accenture during the 2nd quarter worth about $28,000. CarsonAllaria Wealth Management Ltd. acquired a new stake in Accenture in the 1st quarter valued at about $35,000. Finally, Tsfg LLC grew its holdings 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 during the period. 75.14% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price target on shares of Accenture from $377.00 to $389.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, September 27th. TD Cowen upgraded shares of Accenture from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $321.00 to $400.00 in a report on Monday, September 30th. The Goldman Sachs Group started coverage on Accenture in a report on Monday, June 24th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $335.00 price objective on the stock. UBS Group upped 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. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target on Accenture from $380.00 to $390.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, September 27th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Accenture presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $371.18.

Insider Buying and Selling at Accenture

In other news, CFO Kathleen R. Mcclure sold 5,090 shares of the company’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 value of $1,899,689.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 38,825 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $14,490,266.50. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In related news, CFO Kathleen R. Mcclure sold 5,090 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, October 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $373.22, for a total transaction of $1,899,689.80. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 38,825 shares in the company, valued at approximately $14,490,266.50. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Ellyn Shook sold 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 sale, the insider now owns 8,989 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,964,751.98. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 15,548 shares of company stock worth $5,585,938. Insiders own 0.07% of the company’s stock.

Accenture Stock Performance

ACN traded down $1.83 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $375.03. 366,585 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,727,714. The company has a market cap of $235.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.51, a price-to-earnings-growth 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 company’s fifty day moving average price is $345.48 and its 200 day moving average price is $321.59.

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

Accenture Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, October 10th will be issued a dividend of $1.48 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, October 10th. This is a boost from Accenture’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.29. This represents a $5.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.58%. Accenture’s payout ratio is 54.21%.

Accenture announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a share buyback plan 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 repurchase up to 1.8% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are generally a sign that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

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.