Chapman Investment Management LLC Has $3.97 Million Stake in Accenture plc (NYSE:ACN)

Chapman Investment Management LLC reduced its holdings in Accenture plc (NYSE:ACN) by 30.4% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 11,235 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock after selling 4,914 shares during the period. Accenture makes up about 2.9% of Chapman Investment Management LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 14th biggest position. Chapman Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Accenture were worth $3,971,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Unique Wealth Strategies LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Accenture in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC acquired a new stake in Accenture in the second quarter worth $28,000. CarsonAllaria Wealth Management Ltd. acquired a new position in shares of Accenture in the 1st quarter valued at $35,000. Mowery & Schoenfeld Wealth Management LLC increased its position in shares of Accenture by 607.1% in the 3rd quarter. Mowery & Schoenfeld Wealth Management LLC now owns 99 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $35,000 after buying an additional 85 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Creekmur Asset Management LLC raised its stake in Accenture by 108.0% during the 1st quarter. Creekmur Asset Management LLC now owns 104 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $36,000 after buying an additional 54 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.14% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have issued reports on ACN. Piper Sandler upgraded Accenture from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $329.00 to $395.00 in a report on Thursday, September 26th. Bank of America raised their target price on shares of Accenture from $365.00 to $388.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, September 27th. TD Cowen upgraded shares of Accenture from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price target for the company from $321.00 to $400.00 in a report on Monday, September 30th. Mizuho raised their price objective on shares of Accenture from $352.00 to $365.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 18th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada increased their target price on Accenture from $377.00 to $389.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, September 27th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $368.23.

Insider Activity at Accenture

In other Accenture news, COO John F. Walsh sold 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, October 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $373.24, for a total transaction of $1,866,200.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 17,593 shares in the company, valued at $6,566,411.32. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In other Accenture news, CEO Julie Spellman Sweet sold 9,000 shares of Accenture stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 20,324 shares in the company, valued at $7,645,075.84. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, COO John F. Walsh sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, October 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $373.24, for a total transaction of $1,866,200.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 17,593 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,566,411.32. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 33,107 shares of company stock worth $12,275,914. Insiders own 0.07% of the company’s stock.

Accenture Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:ACN opened at $345.67 on Friday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $352.34 and a 200 day simple moving average of $324.05. The company has a market capitalization of $216.10 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.24, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.03 and a beta of 1.25. Accenture plc has a 52-week low of $278.69 and a 52-week high of $387.51.

Accenture (NYSE:ACN) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, September 26th. The information technology services provider reported $2.79 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $16.37 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.71 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Accenture plc will post 12.77 earnings per share for the current year.

Accenture Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, October 10th will be issued a dividend of $1.48 per share. This is an increase from Accenture’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.29. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, October 10th. This represents a $5.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.71%. Accenture’s payout ratio is presently 51.79%.

Accenture announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a share buyback 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 usually a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

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.