Signet Investment Advisory Group Inc. Buys 1,043 Shares of Accenture plc (NYSE:ACN)

Signet Investment Advisory Group Inc. boosted its stake in Accenture plc (NYSE:ACN) by 11.1% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 10,401 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,043 shares during the period. Accenture accounts for approximately 1.7% of Signet Investment Advisory Group Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 22nd biggest holding. Signet Investment Advisory Group Inc.’s holdings in Accenture were worth $3,156,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. TRUE Private Wealth Advisors raised its position in shares of Accenture by 26.1% in the 4th quarter. TRUE Private Wealth Advisors now owns 1,544 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $542,000 after purchasing an additional 320 shares during the last quarter. Oakworth Capital Inc. raised its position in shares of Accenture by 9.1% in the 4th quarter. Oakworth Capital Inc. now owns 650 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $228,000 after purchasing an additional 54 shares during the last quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. raised its position in Accenture by 5.1% in the 4th quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 56,516 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $19,832,000 after buying an additional 2,744 shares during the last quarter. Twin Capital Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Accenture during the 4th quarter valued at about $3,932,000. Finally, Obermeyer Wood Investment Counsel Lllp grew its stake in shares of Accenture by 8.1% during the 4th quarter. Obermeyer Wood Investment Counsel Lllp now owns 1,780 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $625,000 after purchasing an additional 133 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 75.14% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Accenture news, insider Ellyn Shook sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 23rd. The stock was 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 $2,964,751.98. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, insider Ellyn Shook sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $329.82, for a total transaction of $1,649,100.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 8,989 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,964,751.98. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, General Counsel Joel Unruch sold 8,145 shares of the 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 transaction, the general counsel now directly owns 22,849 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,564,161.45. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 21,421 shares of company stock worth $6,912,635 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.07% of the company’s stock.

Accenture Trading Up 0.6 %

NYSE:ACN traded up $1.79 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $326.92. 2,292,799 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,881,293. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $311.12 and its 200-day moving average is $327.53. Accenture plc has a 12-month low of $278.69 and a 12-month high of $387.51. The firm has a market capitalization of $204.88 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.94, a P/E/G ratio of 3.66 and a beta of 1.23.

Accenture (NYSE:ACN) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, June 20th. The information technology services provider reported $3.13 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $3.15 by ($0.02). Accenture had a net margin of 10.79% and a return on equity of 27.48%. The company had revenue of $16.47 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $16.55 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $3.19 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was down .6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts expect that Accenture plc will post 11.95 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Accenture Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, July 11th were paid a $1.29 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, July 11th. This represents a $5.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.58%. Accenture’s payout ratio is 47.25%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the company. Jefferies Financial Group cut their price target on Accenture from $340.00 to $275.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, June 5th. Piper Sandler cut their price objective on Accenture from $379.00 to $320.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, June 17th. Morgan Stanley downgraded Accenture from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and cut their price objective for the company from $382.00 to $300.00 in a research note on Wednesday, June 26th. Piper Sandler Companies cut their price objective on Accenture from $379.00 to $320.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, June 17th. Finally, Bank of America cut their price objective on Accenture from $419.00 to $365.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, June 5th. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $351.82.

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.