Transform Wealth LLC Purchases 12,605 Shares of Accenture plc (NYSE:ACN)

Transform Wealth LLC raised its position in shares of Accenture plc (NYSE:ACN) by 35.0% in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 48,590 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 12,605 shares during the period. Accenture makes up 1.1% of Transform Wealth LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 16th biggest holding. Transform Wealth LLC’s holdings in Accenture were worth $17,176,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Unique Wealth Strategies LLC bought a new stake in shares of Accenture in the second quarter valued at about $26,000. Annapolis Financial Services LLC lifted its stake in shares of Accenture by 507.7% in the first quarter. Annapolis Financial Services LLC now owns 79 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $27,000 after buying an additional 66 shares during the period. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC bought a new stake in shares of Accenture in the second quarter valued at about $28,000. Atwood & Palmer Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Accenture by 214.8% in the first quarter. Atwood & Palmer Inc. now owns 85 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 58 shares during the period. Finally, CarsonAllaria Wealth Management Ltd. bought a new stake in shares of Accenture in the first quarter valued at about $35,000. 75.14% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Accenture Stock Up 0.5 %

ACN stock traded up $1.92 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $370.58. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 576,865 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,740,127. Accenture plc has a 52 week low of $278.69 and a 52 week high of $387.51. The stock has a market cap of $232.24 billion, a PE ratio of 33.76, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.47 and a beta of 1.25. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $341.99 and its 200-day simple moving average is $320.77.

Accenture (NYSE:ACN) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, September 26th. The information technology services provider reported $2.79 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.78 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $16.41 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $16.37 billion. Accenture had a net margin of 11.20% and a return on equity of 26.83%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $2.71 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Accenture plc will post 12.79 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Accenture announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock repurchase plan on Thursday, September 26th that allows the company to repurchase $4.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the information technology services provider to repurchase up to 1.8% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are often a sign that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Accenture Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, October 10th will be given a dividend of $1.48 per share. This represents a $5.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.60%. This is a boost from Accenture’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.29. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, October 10th. Accenture’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 54.21%.

Insider Transactions at Accenture

In related news, General Counsel Joel Unruch sold 8,145 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, July 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $331.05, for a total value of $2,696,402.25. Following the sale, the general counsel now directly owns 22,849 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,564,161.45. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In related news, General Counsel Joel Unruch sold 8,145 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, July 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $331.05, for a total value of $2,696,402.25. Following the sale, the general counsel now directly owns 22,849 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,564,161.45. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Ellyn Shook sold 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $329.82, for a total transaction of $1,649,100.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 8,989 shares in the company, valued at $2,964,751.98. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.07% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently issued reports on ACN. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on shares of Accenture from $376.00 to $370.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, September 24th. Morgan Stanley lowered shares of Accenture from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and dropped their price target for the stock from $382.00 to $300.00 in a research report on Wednesday, June 26th. Mizuho increased their price target on shares of Accenture from $352.00 to $365.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 18th. Piper Sandler raised shares of 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 research report on Thursday, September 26th. Finally, Barclays increased their price target on shares of Accenture from $350.00 to $415.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, September 30th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Accenture currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $371.18.

Accenture Company 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.