Greenleaf Trust Has $8.88 Million Stock Position in Accenture plc (NYSE:ACN)

Greenleaf Trust lifted its stake in shares of Accenture plc (NYSE:ACN) by 4.0% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 25,122 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 974 shares during the quarter. Greenleaf Trust’s holdings in Accenture were worth $8,880,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Unique Wealth Strategies LLC acquired a new stake in Accenture in the second quarter valued at about $26,000. Annapolis Financial Services LLC raised its position in shares of Accenture by 507.7% during the first quarter. Annapolis Financial Services LLC now owns 79 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $27,000 after acquiring an additional 66 shares during the last quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC bought a new position in shares of Accenture during the second quarter worth about $28,000. CarsonAllaria Wealth Management Ltd. bought a new stake in Accenture in the first quarter worth approximately $35,000. Finally, Tsfg LLC increased its holdings in Accenture by 267.9% in the first quarter. Tsfg LLC now owns 103 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $36,000 after purchasing an additional 75 shares in the last quarter. 75.14% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Accenture Stock Performance

Shares of Accenture stock remained flat at $371.79 during trading hours on Wednesday. The stock had a trading volume of 96,873 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,716,616. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $347.76 and a 200 day moving average price of $322.19. Accenture plc has a fifty-two week low of $278.69 and a fifty-two week high of $387.51. The firm has a market cap of $233.00 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.04, a PEG ratio of 3.47 and a beta of 1.25.

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

Accenture Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, October 10th will be issued a dividend of $1.48 per share. This represents a $5.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.59%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, October 10th. This is a positive change from Accenture’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.29. Accenture’s dividend payout ratio is currently 54.21%.

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ACN has been the subject of a number of research reports. TD Cowen raised Accenture from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $321.00 to $400.00 in a research note on Monday, September 30th. Guggenheim upped their price target on Accenture from $380.00 to $395.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, September 27th. Barclays upped their price objective on Accenture from $350.00 to $415.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, September 30th. Citigroup upped their price target on Accenture from $350.00 to $405.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 17th. Finally, Bank of America upped their price target on Accenture from $365.00 to $388.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, September 27th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Accenture currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $371.18.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CFO Kathleen R. Mcclure sold 5,090 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, October 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $373.22, for a total value of $1,899,689.80. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 38,825 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $14,490,266.50. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other Accenture news, CEO Julie Spellman Sweet sold 9,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 directly owns 20,324 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,645,075.84. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Kathleen R. Mcclure sold 5,090 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, October 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $373.22, for a total transaction of $1,899,689.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 38,825 shares in the company, valued at $14,490,266.50. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 19,548 shares of company stock worth $7,322,278 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.07% of the company’s stock.

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.