Covenant Partners LLC Acquires 216 Shares of Accenture plc (NYSE:ACN)

Covenant Partners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Accenture plc (NYSE:ACN) by 3.5% during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 6,438 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock after buying an additional 216 shares during the period. Accenture comprises about 0.7% of Covenant Partners LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 16th biggest holding. Covenant Partners LLC’s holdings in Accenture were worth $2,276,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Wealthcare Advisory Partners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Accenture by 159.5% during the 1st quarter. Wealthcare Advisory Partners LLC now owns 3,615 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $1,253,000 after buying an additional 2,222 shares during the period. 180 Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Accenture by 16.3% during the first quarter. 180 Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,459 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $506,000 after acquiring an additional 205 shares during the period. Kathmere Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Accenture by 19.4% in the first quarter. Kathmere Capital Management LLC now owns 1,486 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $515,000 after purchasing an additional 241 shares during the period. Baker Ellis Asset Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Accenture by 28.8% during the 1st quarter. Baker Ellis Asset Management LLC now owns 760 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $263,000 after purchasing an additional 170 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Winthrop Advisory Group LLC grew its holdings in Accenture by 6.6% in the 1st quarter. Winthrop Advisory Group LLC now owns 1,868 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $647,000 after buying an additional 115 shares during the last quarter. 75.14% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Accenture Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE ACN traded down $3.43 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $360.80. 2,129,390 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,722,404. Accenture plc has a twelve month low of $278.69 and a twelve month high of $387.51. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $350.24 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $323.02. The company has a market cap of $226.11 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.05, a PEG ratio of 3.47 and a beta of 1.25.

Accenture (NYSE:ACN) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 return on equity of 26.83% and a net margin of 11.20%. The company had revenue of $16.41 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.37 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $2.71 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 2.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Accenture plc will post 12.79 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Accenture Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, October 10th will be paid a dividend of $1.48 per share. This is a boost from Accenture’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.29. This represents a $5.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.64%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, October 10th. Accenture’s dividend payout ratio is 54.21%.

Accenture declared that its board has initiated a stock buyback program on Thursday, September 26th that authorizes the company to buyback $4.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the information technology services provider to purchase up to 1.8% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are generally a sign that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on ACN shares. TD Cowen raised Accenture from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $321.00 to $400.00 in a research report on Monday, September 30th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Accenture from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday. Piper Sandler raised shares of Accenture from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $329.00 to $395.00 in a research report on Thursday, September 26th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their target price on Accenture from $377.00 to $389.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, September 27th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut 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. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Accenture currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $371.18.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Accenture news, insider Angela Beatty sold 673 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $372.18, for a total value of $250,477.14. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 5,650 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,102,817. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other news, insider Angela Beatty sold 673 shares of Accenture stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $372.18, for a total transaction of $250,477.14. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 5,650 shares in the company, valued at $2,102,817. 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 link. Also, CAO Melissa A. Burgum sold 458 shares of the 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 in the company, valued at $3,649,265.25. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 24,971 shares of company stock worth $9,330,113 in the last quarter. Insiders own 0.07% 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.