3,119 Shares in Accenture plc (NYSE:ACN) Acquired by Goldstone Financial Group LLC

Goldstone Financial Group LLC purchased a new position in Accenture plc (NYSE:ACN) during the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 3,119 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,103,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Masso Torrence Wealth Management Inc. raised its holdings in Accenture by 2.0% in the third quarter. Masso Torrence Wealth Management Inc. now owns 1,447 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $511,000 after buying an additional 28 shares during the last quarter. Slow Capital Inc. boosted its stake in Accenture by 0.3% during the 3rd quarter. Slow Capital Inc. now owns 9,067 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $3,205,000 after purchasing an additional 29 shares during the last quarter. NBC Securities Inc. raised its stake in shares of Accenture by 0.6% in the third quarter. NBC Securities Inc. now owns 5,206 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $1,840,000 after purchasing an additional 30 shares during the last quarter. Conscious Wealth Investments LLC increased its holdings in Accenture by 0.4% in the 3rd quarter. Conscious Wealth Investments LLC now owns 7,744 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $2,870,000 after buying an additional 31 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Tsfg LLC lifted its stake in Accenture by 31.1% during the 2nd quarter. Tsfg LLC now owns 135 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $41,000 after acquiring an additional 32 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.14% of the company’s stock.

Accenture Stock Down 4.5 %

Shares of Accenture stock opened at $346.59 on Thursday. Accenture plc has a 52 week low of $278.69 and a 52 week high of $387.51. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $351.80 and its 200-day simple moving average is $323.68. The company has a market capitalization of $216.68 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.32, a PEG ratio of 3.47 and a beta of 1.25.

Accenture (NYSE:ACN) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, September 26th. The information technology services provider reported $2.79 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 the consensus estimate of $16.37 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $2.71 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts expect that Accenture plc will post 12.79 earnings per share for the current year.

Accenture announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock buyback program on Thursday, September 26th that authorizes the company to buyback $4.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the information technology services provider to purchase up to 1.8% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are typically a sign 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 dividend of $1.48 per share. This represents a $5.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.71%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, October 10th. This is an increase from Accenture’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.29. Accenture’s dividend payout ratio is 51.79%.

Insider Activity

In related news, CAO Melissa A. Burgum sold 458 shares of the business’s 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 sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 9,777 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,649,265.25. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In related news, CEO Julie Spellman Sweet sold 9,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, October 21st. The shares were 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 owns 20,324 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,645,075.84. This 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 available through this link. Also, CAO Melissa A. Burgum sold 458 shares of Accenture stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $373.25, for a total transaction of $170,948.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 9,777 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,649,265.25. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 33,107 shares of company stock worth $12,275,914 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.07% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

ACN has been the subject of several research reports. StockNews.com cut shares of Accenture from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Susquehanna boosted their target price on shares of Accenture from $350.00 to $360.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, September 27th. Barclays lifted their price objective on Accenture from $350.00 to $415.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, September 30th. TD Cowen raised Accenture from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their target price for the company from $321.00 to $400.00 in a report on Monday, September 30th. Finally, Piper Sandler Companies restated a “neutral” rating and set a $329.00 price target on shares of Accenture in a research note on Friday, September 20th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $368.23.

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.