LVW Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Accenture plc (NYSE:ACN – Free Report) by 7.5% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 941 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 66 shares during the period. LVW Advisors LLC’s holdings in Accenture were worth $331,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.
Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC grew its holdings in Accenture by 378.9% during the third quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 5,491,736 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $1,941,219,000 after buying an additional 4,345,039 shares in the last quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC grew its stake in shares of Accenture by 44.7% in the 2nd quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 2,709,989 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $822,238,000 after acquiring an additional 837,677 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its position in shares of Accenture by 2,666.5% during the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 715,219 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $251,607,000 after purchasing an additional 689,366 shares in the last quarter. Holocene Advisors LP purchased a new position in Accenture during the third quarter worth about $204,895,000. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its position in Accenture by 37,788.5% in the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 510,358 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $180,401,000 after purchasing an additional 509,011 shares in the last quarter. 75.14% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.
Accenture Trading Up 0.5 %
Shares of ACN opened at $352.33 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17, a quick ratio of 1.47 and a current ratio of 1.47. Accenture plc has a fifty-two week low of $278.69 and a fifty-two week high of $387.51. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $357.59 and a 200-day moving average price of $345.93. The firm has a market cap of $220.49 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.56, a PEG ratio of 3.11 and a beta of 1.24.
Accenture announced that its Board of Directors has approved a share repurchase 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 repurchase up to 1.8% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are usually a sign that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.
Accenture Dividend Announcement
The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 14th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, January 16th will be given a dividend of $1.48 per share. This represents a $5.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.68%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, January 16th. Accenture’s payout ratio is 49.66%.
Insider Activity
In related news, insider Angela Beatty sold 375 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $358.50, for a total value of $134,437.50. Following the sale, the insider now owns 5,149 shares in the company, valued at $1,845,916.50. This represents a 6.79 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, General Counsel Joel Unruch sold 4,750 shares of Accenture stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $369.97, for a total value of $1,757,357.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the general counsel now directly owns 22,976 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,500,430.72. This represents a 17.13 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 16,452 shares of company stock valued at $5,934,343. Company insiders own 0.02% of the company’s stock.
Analyst Ratings Changes
A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their target price on Accenture from $377.00 to $389.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, September 27th. TD Cowen upgraded Accenture from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $321.00 to $400.00 in a research note on Monday, September 30th. Susquehanna lifted their target price on Accenture from $350.00 to $360.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, September 27th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price objective on shares of Accenture from $355.00 to $385.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, December 20th. Finally, Guggenheim boosted their target price on shares of Accenture from $380.00 to $395.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, September 27th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Accenture has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $385.04.
View Our Latest Stock Analysis on ACN
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.
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