Accenture (NYSE:ACN) Sets New 52-Week High at $330.61

Accenture plc (NYSE:ACN)’s stock price reached a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Monday . The stock traded as high as $330.61 and last traded at $330.59, with a volume of 558536 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $327.83.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on ACN shares. UBS Group started coverage on Accenture in a research note on Tuesday, November 7th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $333.00 price target for the company. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $340.00 price target on shares of Accenture in a research note on Friday, September 29th. Piper Sandler decreased their price target on Accenture from $312.00 to $300.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, September 29th. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on Accenture from $340.00 to $356.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 12th. Finally, Barclays raised their price target on Accenture from $340.00 to $390.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, September 11th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $337.26.

Accenture Stock Performance

The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $309.87 and a 200-day moving average price of $308.18. The firm has a market capitalization of $207.69 billion, a PE ratio of 30.44, a P/E/G ratio of 3.02 and a beta of 1.23.

Accenture (NYSE:ACN) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, September 28th. The information technology services provider reported $2.71 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.65 by $0.06. Accenture had a return on equity of 29.74% and a net margin of 10.72%. The business had revenue of $15.99 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $16.07 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $2.60 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 3.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts expect that Accenture plc will post 12.1 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Accenture Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, October 12th were issued a $1.29 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, October 11th. This is an increase from Accenture’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.12. This represents a $5.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.56%. Accenture’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 47.91%.

Accenture declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock buyback program on Thursday, September 28th that allows the company to buyback $4.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the information technology services provider to purchase up to 2% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are generally an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Julie Spellman Sweet sold 9,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, October 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $291.41, for a total transaction of $2,622,690.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 35,830 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,441,220.30. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In other news, CEO Julie Spellman Sweet sold 9,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $291.41, for a total value of $2,622,690.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 35,830 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,441,220.30. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Jean-Marc Ollagnier sold 6,250 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, October 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $302.04, for a total value of $1,887,750.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 161,622 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $48,816,308.88. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 36,334 shares of company stock worth $10,939,027 in the last ninety days. 0.08% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Accenture

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of ACN. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL acquired a new position in Accenture in the 1st quarter worth about $28,000. Barrett & Company Inc. acquired a new position in Accenture in the 1st quarter worth about $29,000. Sageworth Trust Co raised its holdings in Accenture by 872.7% in the 1st quarter. Sageworth Trust Co now owns 107 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 96 shares during the period. BluePath Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in Accenture in the 3rd quarter worth about $31,000. Finally, Guardian Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Accenture in the 1st quarter worth about $32,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.42% of the company’s stock.

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.