Stonegate Investment Group LLC Lowers Stock Position in Accenture plc (NYSE:ACN)

Stonegate Investment Group LLC trimmed its stake in shares of Accenture plc (NYSE:ACN) by 23.8% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 25,753 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock after selling 8,036 shares during the period. Stonegate Investment Group LLC’s holdings in Accenture were worth $9,103,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of ACN. Swedbank AB acquired a new stake in shares of Accenture during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $820,912,000. Clearbridge Investments LLC lifted its position in shares of Accenture by 44.7% during the 2nd quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 2,709,989 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $822,238,000 after acquiring an additional 837,677 shares during the period. 1832 Asset Management L.P. lifted its position in shares of Accenture by 251.3% during the 2nd quarter. 1832 Asset Management L.P. now owns 995,896 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $302,165,000 after acquiring an additional 712,400 shares during the period. Capital International Investors lifted its position in shares of Accenture by 196.5% during the 1st quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 988,094 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $342,483,000 after acquiring an additional 654,807 shares during the period. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Accenture by 1.1% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 59,718,732 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $20,699,110,000 after acquiring an additional 635,349 shares during the period. 75.14% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Accenture Stock Up 0.2 %

Shares of ACN stock traded up $0.65 on Friday, reaching $375.80. 397,225 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,731,997. The stock has a market cap of $235.51 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.37, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.47 and a beta of 1.25. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $344.26 and a two-hundred day moving average of $321.51. Accenture plc has a 1-year low of $278.69 and a 1-year high of $387.51.

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 analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.78 by $0.01. Accenture had a return on equity of 26.83% and a net margin of 11.20%. The business had revenue of $16.41 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $16.37 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $2.71 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts predict that Accenture plc will post 12.79 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Accenture Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, October 10th will be issued a $1.48 dividend. This is an increase from Accenture’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.29. This represents a $5.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.58%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, October 10th. Accenture’s dividend payout ratio is currently 54.21%.

Accenture announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock repurchase plan on Thursday, September 26th that allows the company to buyback $4.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the information technology services provider to purchase up to 1.8% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are typically a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts recently issued reports on ACN shares. Bank of America lifted their price objective on Accenture from $365.00 to $388.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, September 27th. Guggenheim lifted their price objective on Accenture from $380.00 to $395.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, September 27th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on Accenture from $377.00 to $389.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, September 27th. Citigroup lifted their price objective on Accenture from $350.00 to $405.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 17th. Finally, Morgan Stanley downgraded Accenture from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and cut their price objective for the stock from $382.00 to $300.00 in a research report on Wednesday, June 26th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $371.18.

Insider Activity at Accenture

In related news, insider Ellyn Shook sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $329.82, for a total value of $1,649,100.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 8,989 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,964,751.98. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, General Counsel Joel Unruch sold 8,145 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $331.05, for a total transaction of $2,696,402.25. Following the completion of the sale, the general counsel now directly owns 22,849 shares in the company, valued at $7,564,161.45. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Ellyn Shook sold 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $329.82, for a total value of $1,649,100.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 8,989 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,964,751.98. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.07% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.