Townsend Asset Management Corp NC ADV Reduces Stake in Accenture plc (NYSE:ACN)

Townsend Asset Management Corp NC ADV reduced its position in Accenture plc (NYSE:ACN) by 3.1% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 8,634 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock after selling 272 shares during the period. Accenture makes up about 1.1% of Townsend Asset Management Corp NC ADV’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 26th biggest position. Townsend Asset Management Corp NC ADV’s holdings in Accenture were worth $3,052,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Unique Wealth Strategies LLC bought a new position in Accenture in the 2nd quarter worth $26,000. Annapolis Financial Services LLC raised its holdings in Accenture by 507.7% in the 1st quarter. Annapolis Financial Services LLC now owns 79 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 66 shares during the period. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC bought a new position in Accenture in the 2nd quarter worth $28,000. CarsonAllaria Wealth Management Ltd. bought a new position in Accenture in the 1st quarter worth $35,000. Finally, Tsfg LLC raised its holdings in Accenture by 267.9% in the 1st quarter. Tsfg LLC now owns 103 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $36,000 after purchasing an additional 75 shares during the period. 75.14% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Accenture

In other news, COO John F. Walsh sold 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $373.24, for a total transaction of $1,866,200.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 17,593 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,566,411.32. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In related news, COO John F. Walsh sold 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $373.24, for a total value of $1,866,200.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 17,593 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,566,411.32. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CAO Melissa A. Burgum sold 458 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $373.25, for a total value of $170,948.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 9,777 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,649,265.25. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 10,548 shares of company stock valued at $3,936,838. Corporate insiders own 0.07% of the company’s stock.

Accenture Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:ACN opened at $376.03 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $235.66 billion, a PE ratio of 34.43, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.47 and a beta of 1.25. Accenture plc has a 1 year low of $278.69 and a 1 year high of $387.51. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $346.72 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $321.91.

Accenture (NYSE:ACN) last issued 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. The company had revenue of $16.41 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $16.37 billion. Accenture had a net margin of 11.20% and a return on equity of 26.83%. Accenture’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $2.71 earnings per share. Equities research analysts expect that Accenture plc will post 12.79 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Accenture announced that its board has approved a stock repurchase plan on Thursday, September 26th that allows the company to repurchase $4.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the information technology services provider to repurchase up to 1.8% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are usually an indication that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Accenture Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, October 10th will be given a dividend of $1.48 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, October 10th. This is an increase from Accenture’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.29. This represents a $5.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.57%. Accenture’s dividend payout ratio is presently 54.21%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have commented on ACN. Barclays raised their price target on Accenture from $350.00 to $415.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, September 30th. Bank of America raised their price target on Accenture from $365.00 to $388.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, September 27th. Guggenheim raised 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. The Goldman Sachs Group began coverage on Accenture in a report on Monday, June 24th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $335.00 target price on the stock. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on Accenture from $376.00 to $370.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, September 24th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $371.18.

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.