Accenture plc (NYSE:ACN) Shares Sold by Impax Asset Management Group plc

Impax Asset Management Group plc lessened its position in Accenture plc (NYSE:ACN) by 9.5% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 34,152 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock after selling 3,597 shares during the period. Impax Asset Management Group plc’s holdings in Accenture were worth $12,072,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of ACN. Banco Santander S.A. grew its position in Accenture by 114.2% in the 1st quarter. Banco Santander S.A. now owns 7,327 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $2,540,000 after buying an additional 3,907 shares in the last quarter. M&G Plc purchased a new stake in shares of Accenture in the first quarter worth approximately $19,007,000. Alera Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Accenture in the first quarter worth approximately $201,000. TIAA Trust National Association raised its position in Accenture by 0.7% during the first quarter. TIAA Trust National Association now owns 59,965 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $20,784,000 after acquiring an additional 394 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board raised its position in Accenture by 19.1% during the first quarter. Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board now owns 2,097 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $727,000 after acquiring an additional 336 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.14% of the company’s stock.

Accenture Stock Down 2.3 %

Accenture stock opened at $353.57 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $221.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.21, a P/E/G ratio of 3.24 and a beta of 1.25. Accenture plc has a 12-month low of $278.69 and a 12-month high of $387.51. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $355.28 and a 200 day simple moving average of $326.73.

Accenture (NYSE:ACN) last announced 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 firm had revenue of $16.41 billion during 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 company’s quarterly revenue was up 2.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $2.71 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Accenture plc will post 12.77 EPS for the current year.

Accenture declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock buyback plan 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 repurchase up to 1.8% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are generally a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Accenture Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, October 10th were issued a dividend of $1.48 per share. This is a boost from Accenture’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.29. This represents a $5.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.67%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, October 10th. Accenture’s payout ratio is currently 51.79%.

Insider Transactions at Accenture

In other news, CEO Julie Spellman Sweet sold 9,000 shares of the business’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 completion of 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 30.69 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Angela Beatty sold 673 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $372.18, for a total value of $250,477.14. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 5,650 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,102,817. The trade was a 10.64 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 36,298 shares of company stock worth $13,372,661. 0.07% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on ACN shares. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price objective on shares of Accenture from $377.00 to $389.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, September 27th. Citigroup increased their price target on Accenture from $350.00 to $405.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 17th. StockNews.com downgraded Accenture from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Robert W. Baird increased their price target on Accenture from $350.00 to $370.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, September 27th. Finally, Guggenheim increased their price target on Accenture from $380.00 to $395.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, September 27th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Accenture presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $368.23.

About Accenture

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.