Ascent Group LLC Has $3.32 Million Position in Accenture plc (NYSE:ACN)

Ascent Group LLC cut its holdings in shares of Accenture plc (NYSE:ACN) by 0.8% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 9,382 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock after selling 79 shares during the period. Ascent Group LLC’s holdings in Accenture were worth $3,316,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of ACN. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC boosted its stake in shares of Accenture by 378.9% in the 3rd 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 valued at $1,941,219,000 after purchasing an additional 4,345,039 shares in the last quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC grew its stake in shares of Accenture by 44.7% during the second quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 2,709,989 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $822,238,000 after buying an additional 837,677 shares during the last quarter. 1832 Asset Management L.P. increased its holdings in shares of Accenture by 251.3% during the second quarter. 1832 Asset Management L.P. now owns 995,896 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $302,165,000 after buying an additional 712,400 shares in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Accenture by 37,788.5% during the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 510,358 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $180,401,000 after acquiring an additional 509,011 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Renaissance Technologies LLC bought a new stake in Accenture during the 2nd quarter worth $125,126,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.14% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have recently weighed in on ACN shares. Citigroup boosted their price target on Accenture from $350.00 to $405.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 17th. BNP Paribas cut shares of Accenture from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $375.00 price target for the company. in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Piper Sandler upgraded shares of Accenture from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $329.00 to $395.00 in a report on Thursday, September 26th. Piper Sandler Companies restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $329.00 price objective on shares of Accenture in a report on Friday, September 20th. Finally, UBS Group upped their price target on Accenture from $400.00 to $415.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, September 27th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Accenture currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $368.23.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Accenture news, COO John F. Walsh sold 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, October 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $373.24, for a total transaction of $1,866,200.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 17,593 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,566,411.32. This trade represents a 22.13 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Julie Spellman Sweet sold 9,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $376.16, for a total transaction of $3,385,440.00. Following the sale, 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 36,298 shares of company stock valued at $13,372,661 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.07% of the company’s stock.

Accenture Stock Performance

ACN opened at $362.37 on Monday. 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 of $358.68 and a 200 day moving average of $331.17. The firm has a market cap of $226.54 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.70, a PEG ratio of 3.17 and a beta of 1.25.

Accenture (NYSE:ACN) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, September 26th. The information technology services provider reported $2.79 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.78 by $0.01. Accenture had a net margin of 11.20% and a return on equity of 26.83%. The business 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 business’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts predict that Accenture plc will post 12.77 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Accenture Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, October 10th were paid 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.63%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, October 10th. Accenture’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 51.79%.

Accenture announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a share repurchase plan on Thursday, September 26th that authorizes the company to buyback $4.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the information technology services provider to repurchase up to 1.8% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are generally an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

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.