Veracity Capital LLC Boosts Stake in Accenture plc (NYSE:ACN)

Veracity Capital LLC increased its holdings in shares of Accenture plc (NYSE:ACN) by 5.7% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,271 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 123 shares during the quarter. Veracity Capital LLC’s holdings in Accenture were worth $799,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Morse Asset Management Inc acquired a new position in Accenture during the 3rd quarter worth about $25,000. MidAtlantic Capital Management Inc. purchased a new stake in Accenture during the third quarter worth about $30,000. Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Accenture during the fourth quarter worth about $34,000. Mowery & Schoenfeld Wealth Management LLC boosted 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 during the period. Finally, RPg Family Wealth Advisory LLC purchased a new stake in Accenture during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $39,000. 75.14% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Accenture Price Performance

Shares of NYSE ACN opened at $362.76 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.47, a quick ratio of 1.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17. The stock has a market cap of $227.01 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.43, a P/E/G ratio of 3.17 and a beta of 1.24. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $357.18 and a two-hundred day moving average of $346.75. Accenture plc has a twelve month low of $278.69 and a twelve month high of $387.51.

Accenture (NYSE:ACN) last issued 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. The firm had revenue of $17.69 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $17.15 billion. Accenture had a net margin of 11.41% and a return on equity of 26.91%. Accenture’s quarterly revenue was up 9.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $3.27 EPS. On average, research analysts forecast that Accenture plc will post 12.69 earnings per share for the current year.

Accenture announced that its Board of Directors has approved 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 reacquire up to 1.8% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are usually a sign that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Accenture Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 14th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, January 16th will be given a dividend of $1.48 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, January 16th. This represents a $5.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.63%. Accenture’s payout ratio is 49.66%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Accenture

In other Accenture news, insider Angela Beatty sold 375 shares of Accenture stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $358.50, for a total value of $134,437.50. Following the sale, the insider now owns 5,149 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,845,916.50. The trade was a 6.79 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Ryoji Sekido sold 3,191 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 directly owns 6 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,062.20. This trade represents a 99.81 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 17,332 shares of company stock worth $6,172,719. 0.02% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ACN has been the subject of several research reports. TD Cowen upgraded shares of Accenture from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $321.00 to $400.00 in a research note on Monday, September 30th. Jefferies Financial Group cut their price target on Accenture from $385.00 to $355.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday. StockNews.com upgraded Accenture from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, January 13th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of Accenture from $370.00 to $396.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, December 16th. Finally, Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Accenture from $350.00 to $415.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, September 30th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Accenture currently 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.