Quadrature Capital Ltd Cuts Stake in Accenture plc (NYSE:ACN)

Quadrature Capital Ltd decreased its position in Accenture plc (NYSE:ACN) by 82.4% during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 16,757 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock after selling 78,676 shares during the quarter. Quadrature Capital Ltd’s holdings in Accenture were worth $5,921,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Morse Asset Management Inc acquired a new position in Accenture during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $25,000. Unique Wealth Strategies LLC acquired a new position in Accenture during the second quarter worth $26,000. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC purchased a new position in Accenture in the second quarter worth $28,000. MidAtlantic Capital Management Inc. acquired a new stake in Accenture in the third quarter valued at $30,000. Finally, Mowery & Schoenfeld Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Accenture by 607.1% during the 3rd quarter. Mowery & Schoenfeld Wealth Management LLC now owns 99 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 85 shares during the period. 75.14% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Accenture Stock Down 0.5 %

Shares of NYSE:ACN opened at $358.13 on Friday. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $359.88 and a 200-day simple moving average of $332.26. Accenture plc has a 52 week low of $278.69 and a 52 week high of $387.51. The company has a market cap of $223.89 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.33, a P/E/G ratio of 3.13 and a beta of 1.24.

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, beating 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 company had revenue of $16.41 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $16.37 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $2.71 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 2.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts expect that Accenture plc will post 12.76 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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

Accenture Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, October 10th were paid a dividend of $1.48 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was 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 dividend yield of 1.65%. Accenture’s payout ratio is currently 51.79%.

Insider Transactions at Accenture

In other news, CEO Julie Spellman Sweet sold 9,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, October 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $376.16, for a total value of $3,385,440.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 20,324 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,645,075.84. This trade represents a 30.69 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Ryoji Sekido sold 3,191 shares of Accenture stock in a transaction on Monday, November 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $343.70, for a total transaction of $1,096,746.70. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 6 shares in the company, valued at $2,062.20. The trade was a 99.81 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 36,298 shares of company stock worth $13,372,661 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.07% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts recently commented on the stock. BNP Paribas cut shares of Accenture from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $375.00 price objective for the company. in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Piper Sandler Companies reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $329.00 price target on shares of Accenture in a research note on Friday, September 20th. BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on Accenture from $380.00 to $390.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, September 27th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on Accenture from $376.00 to $370.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, September 24th. Finally, Robert W. Baird restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $370.00 price target on shares of Accenture in a research report on Tuesday. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $368.23.

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.