Richard W. Paul & Associates LLC Decreases Holdings in Accenture plc (NYSE:ACN)

Richard W. Paul & Associates LLC reduced its stake in shares of Accenture plc (NYSE:ACN) by 15.8% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 674 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock after selling 126 shares during the quarter. Richard W. Paul & Associates LLC’s holdings in Accenture were worth $238,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in ACN. NBC Securities Inc. raised its holdings in Accenture by 0.6% during the 3rd quarter. NBC Securities Inc. now owns 5,206 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $1,840,000 after buying an additional 30 shares during the period. West Paces Advisors Inc. raised its stake in shares of Accenture by 10.2% in the first quarter. West Paces Advisors Inc. now owns 346 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $120,000 after acquiring an additional 32 shares during the period. Tsfg LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Accenture by 31.1% in the 2nd quarter. Tsfg LLC now owns 135 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $41,000 after acquiring an additional 32 shares during the last quarter. Meadow Creek Wealth Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Accenture by 4.5% during the 2nd quarter. Meadow Creek Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 747 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $227,000 after purchasing an additional 32 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Encompass More Asset Management raised its position in Accenture by 4.8% in the 2nd quarter. Encompass More Asset Management now owns 700 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $212,000 after purchasing an additional 32 shares during the period. 75.14% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Accenture

In related news, insider Ellyn Shook sold 5,000 shares of Accenture stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 8,989 shares in the company, valued at $2,964,751.98. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In related news, General Counsel Joel Unruch sold 8,145 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, July 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $331.05, for a total value of $2,696,402.25. Following the completion of the transaction, the general counsel now owns 22,849 shares in the company, valued at $7,564,161.45. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, insider Ellyn Shook sold 5,000 shares of the business’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 in the company, valued at approximately $2,964,751.98. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 23,693 shares of company stock worth $8,282,341. Insiders own 0.07% of the company’s stock.

Accenture Stock Performance

Shares of Accenture stock opened at $376.86 on Friday. Accenture plc has a one year low of $278.69 and a one year high of $387.51. The company has a market capitalization of $236.18 billion, a PE ratio of 34.51, a P/E/G ratio of 3.47 and a beta of 1.25. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $345.48 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $321.77.

Accenture (NYSE:ACN) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, September 26th. The information technology services provider reported $2.79 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 company had revenue of $16.41 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $16.37 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $2.71 earnings per share. Accenture’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts predict that Accenture plc will post 12.79 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Accenture announced that its Board of Directors has approved a share buyback plan 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 plans are typically an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Accenture Increases Dividend

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have issued reports on ACN shares. Robert W. Baird boosted their target price on Accenture from $350.00 to $370.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, September 27th. BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on Accenture from $380.00 to $390.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, September 27th. TD Cowen upgraded Accenture from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $321.00 to $400.00 in a research report on Monday, September 30th. The Goldman Sachs Group started coverage on shares of Accenture in a report on Monday, June 24th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $335.00 price target on the stock. Finally, UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of Accenture from $400.00 to $415.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, September 27th. Eight investment 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, Accenture has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $371.18.

About Accenture

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.