Janney Capital Management LLC Has $11.28 Million Holdings in Accenture plc (NYSE:ACN)

Janney Capital Management LLC trimmed its position in shares of Accenture plc (NYSE:ACN) by 3.1% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 32,063 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock after selling 1,040 shares during the quarter. Janney Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Accenture were worth $11,280,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. Morse Asset Management Inc bought a new stake in shares of Accenture in the third quarter valued at about $25,000. MidAtlantic Capital Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Accenture in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $30,000. Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC bought a new stake in shares of Accenture during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Mowery & Schoenfeld Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Accenture by 607.1% in the third quarter. Mowery & Schoenfeld Wealth Management LLC now owns 99 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 85 shares in the last quarter. Finally, RPg Family Wealth Advisory LLC bought a new position in Accenture in the third quarter worth $39,000. 75.14% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Accenture Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:ACN opened at $356.66 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.47, a quick ratio of 1.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17. Accenture plc has a 1-year low of $278.69 and a 1-year high of $387.51. The stock has a market capitalization of $223.19 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.04, a P/E/G ratio of 3.14 and a beta of 1.24. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $357.40 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $346.66.

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

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

Accenture Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 14th. Investors of record on Thursday, January 16th will be issued a $1.48 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, January 16th. This represents a $5.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.66%. Accenture’s dividend payout ratio is presently 49.66%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Accenture

In related news, CEO Julie Spellman Sweet sold 8,136 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, October 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $362.07, for a total value of $2,945,801.52. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 12,188 shares in the company, valued at $4,412,909.16. This represents a 40.03 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Ryoji Sekido sold 3,191 shares of Accenture stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $343.70, for a total value of $1,096,746.70. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 6 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,062.20. This represents a 99.81 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 15,845 shares of company stock valued at $5,645,518. 0.02% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. BNP Paribas cut shares of Accenture from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $375.00 price objective for the company. in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Susquehanna increased their price target on shares of Accenture from $350.00 to $360.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, September 27th. Bank of America lifted their price objective on Accenture from $365.00 to $388.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, September 27th. Barclays raised their target price on Accenture from $350.00 to $415.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, September 30th. Finally, Piper Sandler upped their price target on Accenture from $422.00 to $429.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $383.74.

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.