Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. Has $14.29 Million Stock Position in Accenture plc (NYSE:ACN)

Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. boosted its position in Accenture plc (NYSE:ACN) by 29.8% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 40,857 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 9,371 shares during the period. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd.’s holdings in Accenture were worth $14,288,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. BKM Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in Accenture by 10.3% in the 3rd quarter. BKM Wealth Management LLC now owns 7,836 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $2,770,000 after purchasing an additional 733 shares in the last quarter. Parcion Private Wealth LLC increased its holdings in Accenture by 14.4% in the 3rd quarter. Parcion Private Wealth LLC now owns 18,052 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $6,381,000 after purchasing an additional 2,269 shares in the last quarter. Lyell Wealth Management LP acquired a new position in Accenture in the 3rd quarter worth about $209,000. Allworth Financial LP increased its holdings in Accenture by 15.5% in the 3rd quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 11,823 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $4,179,000 after purchasing an additional 1,587 shares in the last quarter. Finally, CWC Advisors LLC. acquired a new position in Accenture in the 3rd quarter worth about $1,045,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.14% of the company’s stock.

Accenture Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:ACN opened at $360.80 on Friday. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $350.24 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $322.94. The firm has a market cap of $226.11 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.04, a PEG ratio of 3.47 and a beta of 1.25. Accenture plc has a 52-week low of $278.69 and a 52-week high of $387.51.

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

Accenture announced that its board has initiated a share buyback program on Thursday, September 26th that permits the company to repurchase $4.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the information technology services provider to purchase up to 1.8% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are typically a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Accenture Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, October 10th will be issued a $1.48 dividend. This represents a $5.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.64%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, October 10th. This is a positive change from Accenture’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.29. Accenture’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 54.21%.

Insider Activity at Accenture

In related news, insider Angela Beatty sold 673 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 5,650 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,102,817. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In related news, General Counsel Joel Unruch sold 4,750 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $369.97, for a total transaction of $1,757,357.50. Following the completion of the sale, the general counsel now directly owns 22,976 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,500,430.72. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Angela Beatty sold 673 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $372.18, for a total value of $250,477.14. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 5,650 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,102,817. This represents 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 sold 24,971 shares of company stock valued at $9,330,113. 0.07% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on ACN shares. Bank of America increased their price target on Accenture from $365.00 to $388.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, September 27th. Guggenheim increased their price target on Accenture from $380.00 to $395.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, September 27th. Barclays increased their price target on Accenture from $350.00 to $415.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, September 30th. Susquehanna increased their price target on Accenture from $350.00 to $360.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, September 27th. Finally, Piper Sandler raised Accenture from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their price target for the company from $329.00 to $395.00 in a research note on Thursday, September 26th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Accenture has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $371.18.

Accenture Company 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.