Accenture plc (NYSE:ACN) Position Lessened by Ascent Wealth Partners LLC

Ascent Wealth Partners LLC reduced its holdings in Accenture plc (NYSE:ACN) by 1.3% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 36,447 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock after selling 475 shares during the quarter. Accenture accounts for 1.8% of Ascent Wealth Partners LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 11th largest position. Ascent Wealth Partners LLC’s holdings in Accenture were worth $12,883,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Washington Trust Bank increased its position in Accenture by 11.2% in the 3rd quarter. Washington Trust Bank now owns 2,219 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $784,000 after acquiring an additional 224 shares during the period. Cozad Asset Management Inc. acquired a new stake in Accenture in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $225,000. WoodTrust Financial Corp increased its position in Accenture by 21.6% in the 3rd quarter. WoodTrust Financial Corp now owns 832 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $294,000 after acquiring an additional 148 shares during the period. Graypoint LLC increased its position in shares of Accenture by 5.4% during the 3rd quarter. Graypoint LLC now owns 9,567 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $3,382,000 after purchasing an additional 488 shares during the period. Finally, Wealth Architects LLC increased its position in shares of Accenture by 3.9% during the 3rd quarter. Wealth Architects LLC now owns 1,506 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $533,000 after purchasing an additional 56 shares during the period. 75.14% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at Accenture

In other Accenture news, CEO Julie Spellman Sweet sold 9,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $376.16, for a total transaction of $3,385,440.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 20,324 shares in the company, valued at $7,645,075.84. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, CEO Julie Spellman Sweet sold 9,000 shares of Accenture stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 20,324 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,645,075.84. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Melissa A. Burgum sold 458 shares of Accenture stock in a transaction dated Thursday, October 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $373.25, for a total value of $170,948.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 9,777 shares in the company, valued at $3,649,265.25. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 36,298 shares of company stock worth $13,372,661 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.07% of the company’s stock.

Accenture Price Performance

ACN traded up $10.64 during trading on Thursday, reaching $356.13. 3,009,729 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,720,781. The stock has a market cap of $222.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.16, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.02 and a beta of 1.25. Accenture plc has a fifty-two week low of $278.69 and a fifty-two week high of $387.51. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $352.96 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $324.80.

Accenture (NYSE:ACN) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, September 26th. The information technology services provider reported $2.79 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 analyst estimates of $16.37 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.71 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 2.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts anticipate that Accenture plc will post 12.77 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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

Accenture Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, October 10th will be issued a dividend of $1.48 per share. This is a positive change from Accenture’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.29. This represents a $5.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.66%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, October 10th. Accenture’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 51.79%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on ACN shares. Piper Sandler Companies reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $329.00 price target on shares of Accenture in a research report on Friday, September 20th. Guggenheim lifted their price target on Accenture from $380.00 to $395.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, September 27th. Robert W. Baird lifted their price target on Accenture from $350.00 to $370.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, September 27th. Citigroup raised their price objective on Accenture from $350.00 to $405.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 17th. Finally, UBS Group raised their price objective on Accenture from $400.00 to $415.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, September 27th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $368.23.

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.