Accenture plc (NYSE:ACN) Shares Sold by Legacy Wealth Asset Management LLC

Legacy Wealth Asset Management LLC lowered its holdings in Accenture plc (NYSE:ACN) by 4.3% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 10,558 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock after selling 480 shares during the quarter. Accenture makes up 1.0% of Legacy Wealth Asset Management LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 11th largest position. Legacy Wealth Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Accenture were worth $3,714,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Edgestream Partners L.P. purchased a new position in Accenture in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $1,524,000. Sienna Gestion grew its holdings in Accenture by 0.5% in the second quarter. Sienna Gestion now owns 54,528 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $16,537,000 after purchasing an additional 293 shares during the last quarter. AllGen Financial Advisors Inc. increased its position in shares of Accenture by 20.6% in the second quarter. AllGen Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 9,520 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $2,888,000 after buying an additional 1,629 shares in the last quarter. XTX Topco Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Accenture during the 2nd quarter worth $1,999,000. Finally, Intech Investment Management LLC grew its stake in Accenture by 13.8% in the 2nd quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 41,701 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $12,652,000 after acquiring an additional 5,045 shares during the last quarter. 75.14% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Accenture Stock Up 0.3 %

Shares of NYSE ACN opened at $350.92 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.47, a current ratio of 1.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17. The stock has a market capitalization of $219.60 billion, a PE ratio of 29.44, a P/E/G ratio of 3.11 and a beta of 1.24. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $357.85 and a 200-day moving average of $344.97. Accenture plc has a 52-week low of $278.69 and a 52-week high of $387.51.

Accenture (NYSE:ACN) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, December 19th. The information technology services provider reported $3.59 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.43 by $0.16. Accenture had a return on equity of 26.91% and a net margin of 11.41%. The company had revenue of $17.69 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $17.15 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $3.27 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 9.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts anticipate that Accenture plc will post 12.69 EPS for the current year.

Accenture Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 14th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, January 16th will be paid a $1.48 dividend. This represents a $5.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.69%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, January 16th. Accenture’s dividend payout ratio is presently 49.66%.

Accenture declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share repurchase program on Thursday, September 26th that permits the company to repurchase $4.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the information technology services provider to buy up to 1.8% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are generally a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

ACN has been the subject of a number of research reports. Bank of America lifted their target price on shares of Accenture from $365.00 to $388.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, September 27th. Robert W. Baird restated a “neutral” rating and set a $370.00 price objective on shares of Accenture in a research report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Guggenheim increased their target price on Accenture from $380.00 to $395.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, September 27th. TD Cowen upgraded Accenture from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $321.00 to $400.00 in a research report on Monday, September 30th. Finally, BNP Paribas cut Accenture from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $375.00 price objective for the company. in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Accenture presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $385.04.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Accenture news, General Counsel Joel Unruch sold 4,750 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $369.97, for a total value of $1,757,357.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the general counsel now owns 22,976 shares in the company, valued at $8,500,430.72. This represents a 17.13 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Angela Beatty sold 673 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $372.18, for a total transaction of $250,477.14. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 5,650 shares in the company, valued at approximately $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 three months, insiders sold 26,125 shares of company stock valued at $9,570,260. Company insiders own 0.02% of the company’s stock.

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.