Accenture plc (NYSE:ACN) Shares Acquired by United Asset Strategies Inc.

United Asset Strategies Inc. raised its position in Accenture plc (NYSE:ACN) by 9.3% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 4,012 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 341 shares during the period. United Asset Strategies Inc.’s holdings in Accenture were worth $1,418,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. HM Payson & Co. grew its position in shares of Accenture by 0.4% in the third quarter. HM Payson & Co. now owns 308,236 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $108,955,000 after purchasing an additional 1,118 shares in the last quarter. Oldfather Financial Services LLC acquired a new position in Accenture during the third quarter worth $228,000. Catalyst Financial Partners LLC grew its holdings in Accenture by 10.8% in the 3rd quarter. Catalyst Financial Partners LLC now owns 2,439 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $862,000 after buying an additional 237 shares in the last quarter. Tevis Investment Management raised its holdings in shares of Accenture by 2.8% during the 3rd quarter. Tevis Investment Management now owns 2,283 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $807,000 after acquiring an additional 62 shares during the period. Finally, Goldstone Financial Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Accenture during the 3rd quarter valued at about $1,103,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.14% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Julie Spellman Sweet sold 9,000 shares of the company’s 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 sale, the chief executive officer now owns 20,324 shares in the company, valued at $7,645,075.84. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In related news, CEO Julie Spellman Sweet sold 9,000 shares of the company’s 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 sale, the chief executive officer now owns 20,324 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,645,075.84. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Kathleen R. Mcclure sold 5,090 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 38,825 shares in the company, valued at approximately $14,490,266.50. 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. Company insiders own 0.07% of the company’s stock.

Accenture Price Performance

NYSE ACN traded up $0.14 on Thursday, hitting $346.71. 931,586 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,718,756. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $351.80 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $323.68. 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 $216.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.32, a P/E/G ratio of 3.47 and a beta of 1.25.

Accenture (NYSE:ACN) last released its earnings results on Thursday, September 26th. The information technology services provider reported $2.79 earnings per share (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 for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $16.37 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $2.71 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 2.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts predict that Accenture plc will post 12.79 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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

Accenture Increases Dividend

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have recently weighed in on ACN shares. BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on shares of Accenture from $380.00 to $390.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, September 27th. Citigroup lifted their price objective on Accenture from $350.00 to $405.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 17th. Bank of America lifted their target price on Accenture from $365.00 to $388.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, September 27th. Piper Sandler upgraded Accenture from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $329.00 to $395.00 in a report on Thursday, September 26th. Finally, Barclays lifted their target price on Accenture from $350.00 to $415.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, September 30th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Accenture currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $368.23.

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.