Accenture plc (NYSE:ACN) Shares Sold by Asset Advisors Investment Management LLC

Asset Advisors Investment Management LLC lowered its holdings in Accenture plc (NYSE:ACN) by 2.6% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 73,844 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock after selling 1,940 shares during the period. Accenture accounts for 2.7% of Asset Advisors Investment Management LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 9th biggest position. Asset Advisors Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Accenture were worth $26,102,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Castellan Group raised its stake in Accenture by 4.1% during the third quarter. Castellan Group now owns 8,165 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $2,886,000 after purchasing an additional 323 shares during the period. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB raised its position in shares of Accenture by 2.5% in the 3rd quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB now owns 41,175 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $14,555,000 after buying an additional 1,015 shares during the period. Arvest Bank Trust Division acquired a new position in Accenture in the third quarter valued at $18,115,000. Sanctuary Advisors LLC increased its stake in Accenture by 12.1% during the third quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC now owns 101,420 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $36,375,000 after acquiring an additional 10,961 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Anchor Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Accenture by 8.4% in the 3rd quarter. Anchor Investment Management LLC now owns 6,135 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $2,169,000 after purchasing an additional 474 shares during the period. 75.14% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Accenture Stock Down 1.0 %

NYSE:ACN opened at $360.24 on Friday. 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 $225.21 billion, a PE ratio of 31.52, a P/E/G ratio of 3.23 and a beta of 1.24. The business’s 50 day moving average is $360.61 and its two-hundred day moving average is $334.25.

Accenture (NYSE:ACN) last released its earnings results on Thursday, September 26th. The information technology services provider reported $2.79 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 during 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 firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Accenture plc will post 12.74 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Accenture Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, October 10th were issued a dividend of $1.48 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, October 10th. This is a positive change from Accenture’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.29. This represents a $5.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.64%. Accenture’s dividend payout ratio is 51.79%.

Accenture announced that its board 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 repurchase up to 1.8% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are often a sign that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts recently commented on the stock. TD Cowen upgraded shares of Accenture from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price target for the company from $321.00 to $400.00 in a report on Monday, September 30th. Piper Sandler Companies reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $329.00 target price on shares of Accenture in a research note on Friday, September 20th. Robert W. Baird reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $370.00 price target on shares of Accenture in a report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Barclays upped their target price on Accenture from $350.00 to $415.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, September 30th. Finally, UBS Group raised their target price on Accenture from $400.00 to $415.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, September 27th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Accenture has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $373.32.

Insider Transactions at Accenture

In other news, insider Angela Beatty sold 673 shares of Accenture stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $372.18, for a total transaction of $250,477.14. Following the sale, the insider now owns 5,650 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,102,817. The trade was a 10.64 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Julie Spellman Sweet sold 9,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $376.16, for a total value of $3,385,440.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 20,324 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,645,075.84. This trade represents a 30.69 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 36,298 shares of company stock worth $13,372,661. 0.07% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.