Wrapmanager Inc. Lowers Position in Accenture plc (NYSE:ACN)

Wrapmanager Inc. lessened its position in Accenture plc (NYSE:ACN) by 10.6% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 6,865 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock after selling 813 shares during the quarter. Wrapmanager Inc.’s holdings in Accenture were worth $2,427,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Unique Wealth Strategies LLC purchased a new position in Accenture during the second quarter valued at $26,000. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC purchased a new position in Accenture during the second quarter valued at $28,000. MidAtlantic Capital Management Inc. purchased a new position in Accenture during the third quarter valued at $30,000. Mowery & Schoenfeld Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in Accenture by 607.1% during the third quarter. Mowery & Schoenfeld Wealth Management LLC now owns 99 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $35,000 after buying an additional 85 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Creekmur Asset Management LLC raised its stake in Accenture by 108.0% during the first quarter. Creekmur Asset Management LLC now owns 104 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $36,000 after buying an additional 54 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.14% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Accenture

In other Accenture news, CFO Kathleen R. Mcclure sold 5,090 shares of Accenture stock in a transaction dated Thursday, October 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $373.22, for a total transaction of $1,899,689.80. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 38,825 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $14,490,266.50. The trade was a 11.59 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Julie Spellman Sweet sold 9,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $376.16, for a total value of $3,385,440.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 20,324 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,645,075.84. This trade represents a 30.69 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 36,298 shares of company stock valued at $13,372,661 in the last quarter. 0.07% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Accenture Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE ACN opened at $352.79 on Tuesday. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $355.77 and its 200-day moving average price is $327.83. Accenture plc has a fifty-two week low of $278.69 and a fifty-two week high of $387.51. The company has a market cap of $220.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.87, a PEG ratio of 3.09 and a beta of 1.25.

Accenture (NYSE:ACN) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, September 26th. The information technology services provider reported $2.79 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.78 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $16.41 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $16.37 billion. Accenture had a return on equity of 26.83% and a net margin of 11.20%. Accenture’s quarterly revenue was up 2.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted $2.71 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that Accenture plc will post 12.77 earnings per share for the current year.

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 outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the information technology services provider to buy up to 1.8% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are typically a sign that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Accenture Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, October 10th were given a dividend of $1.48 per share. This represents a $5.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.68%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, October 10th. This is a boost from Accenture’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.29. Accenture’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 51.79%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have issued reports on ACN shares. Susquehanna lifted their price objective on Accenture from $350.00 to $360.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, September 27th. BNP Paribas cut Accenture from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $375.00 price target for the company. in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. UBS Group boosted their price target on Accenture from $400.00 to $415.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, September 27th. Guggenheim boosted their price target on Accenture from $380.00 to $395.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, September 27th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on Accenture from $380.00 to $390.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, September 27th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Accenture presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus 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.