Accenture plc (NYSE:ACN) Stake Lowered by Regent Peak Wealth Advisors LLC

Regent Peak Wealth Advisors LLC lessened its position in shares of Accenture plc (NYSE:ACN) by 6.3% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 55,895 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock after selling 3,732 shares during the quarter. Accenture comprises 4.5% of Regent Peak Wealth Advisors LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 6th biggest holding. Regent Peak Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in Accenture were worth $19,758,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of ACN. Annapolis Financial Services LLC grew its position in Accenture by 507.7% in the first quarter. Annapolis Financial Services LLC now owns 79 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $27,000 after acquiring an additional 66 shares in the last quarter. Atwood & Palmer Inc. increased its position in shares of Accenture by 214.8% during the 1st quarter. Atwood & Palmer Inc. now owns 85 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 58 shares during the last quarter. Unique Wealth Strategies LLC purchased a new stake in Accenture during the 2nd quarter valued at $26,000. CarsonAllaria Wealth Management Ltd. bought a new stake in Accenture in the first quarter worth $35,000. Finally, Tsfg LLC increased its position in Accenture by 267.9% during the first quarter. Tsfg LLC now owns 103 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $36,000 after acquiring an additional 75 shares during the last quarter. 75.14% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Accenture Trading Up 0.6 %

Shares of ACN traded up $2.35 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $371.01. The company had a trading volume of 728,776 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,740,886. The company has a market capitalization of $232.51 billion, a PE ratio of 33.76, 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 $341.99 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $320.77.

Accenture (NYSE:ACN) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, September 26th. The information technology services provider reported $2.79 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $16.37 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.71 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 2.6% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts forecast that Accenture plc will post 12.79 earnings per share for the current year.

Accenture Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, October 10th will be given a dividend of $1.48 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, October 10th. This is an increase from Accenture’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.29. This represents a $5.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.60%. Accenture’s dividend payout ratio is presently 54.21%.

Accenture announced that its Board of Directors has approved a share buyback program on Thursday, September 26th that permits the company to buyback $4.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the information technology services provider to reacquire up to 1.8% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are often an indication that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently issued reports on ACN. BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on shares of Accenture from $380.00 to $390.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, September 27th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on Accenture from $376.00 to $370.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, September 24th. Guggenheim increased their price target on Accenture from $380.00 to $395.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, September 27th. Barclays boosted their price objective on Accenture from $350.00 to $415.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, September 30th. Finally, UBS Group increased their target price on Accenture from $400.00 to $415.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, September 27th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $371.18.

Insider Transactions at Accenture

In other Accenture news, General Counsel Joel Unruch sold 8,145 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $331.05, for a total value of $2,696,402.25. Following the completion of the sale, the general counsel now owns 22,849 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,564,161.45. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, General Counsel Joel Unruch sold 8,145 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $331.05, for a total value of $2,696,402.25. Following the completion of the transaction, the general counsel now directly owns 22,849 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,564,161.45. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Ellyn Shook sold 5,000 shares of the business’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 directly owns 8,989 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,964,751.98. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.07% of the company’s stock.

About Accenture

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.