Bellecapital International Ltd. Purchases New Shares in Accenture plc (NYSE:ACN)

Bellecapital International Ltd. purchased a new stake in shares of Accenture plc (NYSE:ACN) during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund purchased 932 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $329,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp grew its holdings in shares of Accenture by 18.7% during the second quarter. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp now owns 172,199 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $52,247,000 after buying an additional 27,168 shares in the last quarter. New Mexico Educational Retirement Board boosted its position in Accenture by 11.9% during the 1st quarter. New Mexico Educational Retirement Board now owns 36,750 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $12,393,000 after acquiring an additional 3,900 shares during the period. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC grew its stake in Accenture by 13.3% during the 1st quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 183,446 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $63,584,000 after acquiring an additional 21,516 shares in the last quarter. M&G Plc purchased a new stake in shares of Accenture in the first quarter worth approximately $19,007,000. Finally, First Long Island Investors LLC grew its position in Accenture by 27.8% during the first quarter. First Long Island Investors LLC now owns 65,717 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $22,778,000 after purchasing an additional 14,283 shares in the last quarter. 75.14% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Accenture Stock Down 0.6 %

Shares of ACN stock traded down $2.33 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $374.53. The stock had a trading volume of 426,741 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,727,714. The firm has a market cap of $234.72 billion, a PE ratio of 34.51, a P/E/G 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 firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $345.48 and its 200 day simple moving average is $321.59.

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 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 firm had revenue of $16.41 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $16.37 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $2.71 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 2.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts forecast that Accenture plc will post 12.79 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Accenture announced that its Board of Directors has approved a share repurchase 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 reacquire up to 1.8% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are often an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.58%. This is an increase from Accenture’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.29. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, October 10th. Accenture’s payout ratio is presently 54.21%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have issued reports on ACN. Susquehanna increased their target price on shares of Accenture from $350.00 to $360.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, September 27th. Robert W. Baird lifted their price objective on Accenture from $350.00 to $370.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, September 27th. Piper Sandler raised Accenture from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $329.00 to $395.00 in a research report on Thursday, September 26th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on Accenture from $376.00 to $370.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, September 24th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group began coverage on Accenture in a report on Monday, June 24th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $335.00 price objective on the stock. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Accenture currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $371.18.

Insider Activity

In related news, CFO Kathleen R. Mcclure sold 5,090 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 sale, the chief financial officer now owns 38,825 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $14,490,266.50. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In other Accenture news, CFO Kathleen R. Mcclure sold 5,090 shares of the company’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 sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 38,825 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $14,490,266.50. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CAO Melissa A. Burgum sold 458 shares of Accenture stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, October 17th. The shares were 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 owns 9,777 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,649,265.25. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 15,548 shares of company stock worth $5,585,938. Company insiders own 0.07% of the company’s stock.

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.