Accenture plc (NYSE:ACN) Shares Bought by Cidel Asset Management Inc.

Cidel Asset Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Accenture plc (NYSE:ACN) by 5.4% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 2,325 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock after buying an additional 120 shares during the period. Cidel Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Accenture were worth $818,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the stock. Masso Torrence Wealth Management Inc. boosted its position in Accenture by 2.0% in the 3rd quarter. Masso Torrence Wealth Management Inc. now owns 1,447 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $511,000 after purchasing an additional 28 shares in the last quarter. BSW Wealth Partners boosted its holdings in Accenture by 0.7% during the third quarter. BSW Wealth Partners now owns 4,077 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $1,441,000 after buying an additional 28 shares in the last quarter. Slow Capital Inc. grew its position in Accenture by 0.3% during the third quarter. Slow Capital Inc. now owns 9,067 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $3,205,000 after buying an additional 29 shares during the period. Tradition Wealth Management LLC raised its position in shares of Accenture by 0.3% in the third quarter. Tradition Wealth Management LLC now owns 10,951 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $3,871,000 after acquiring an additional 29 shares during the period. Finally, NBC Securities Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Accenture by 0.6% during the 3rd quarter. NBC Securities Inc. now owns 5,206 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $1,840,000 after acquiring an additional 30 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.14% of the company’s stock.

Accenture Price Performance

Shares of ACN stock opened at $386.04 on Friday. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $361.83 and its two-hundred day moving average is $351.65. Accenture plc has a 12 month low of $278.69 and a 12 month high of $398.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17, a current ratio of 1.47 and a quick ratio of 1.47. The company has a market capitalization of $241.58 billion, a PE ratio of 32.39, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.43 and a beta of 1.24.

Accenture (NYSE:ACN) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, December 19th. The information technology services provider reported $3.59 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.43 by $0.16. Accenture had a return on equity of 26.91% and a net margin of 11.41%. The firm had revenue of $17.69 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $17.15 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $3.27 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 9.0% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts predict that Accenture plc will post 12.69 earnings per share for the current year.

Accenture Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 14th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, January 16th will be given a $1.48 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, January 16th. This represents a $5.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.53%. Accenture’s payout ratio is currently 49.66%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Accenture

In related news, insider Angela Beatty sold 375 shares of Accenture stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $358.50, for a total value of $134,437.50. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 5,149 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,845,916.50. This trade represents a 6.79 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Julie Spellman Sweet sold 8,793 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $394.47, for a total value of $3,468,574.71. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 11,858 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,677,625.26. This represents a 42.58 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 22,280 shares of company stock worth $8,316,190 over the last three months. Insiders own 0.02% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on ACN shares. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their price target on Accenture from $385.00 to $355.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. StockNews.com raised Accenture from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, January 13th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on shares of Accenture from $370.00 to $396.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, December 16th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised shares of Accenture from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $370.00 to $420.00 in a report on Friday, December 6th. Finally, Robert W. Baird reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $370.00 target price on shares of Accenture in a research note on Tuesday, December 3rd. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Accenture has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $387.22.

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.