Cypress Wealth Services LLC Buys 33 Shares of Accenture plc (NYSE:ACN)

Cypress Wealth Services LLC increased its position in Accenture plc (NYSE:ACN) by 2.8% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 1,192 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 33 shares during the quarter. Cypress Wealth Services LLC’s holdings in Accenture were worth $421,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Kelly Financial Services LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Accenture by 16.4% during the 3rd quarter. Kelly Financial Services LLC now owns 751 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $266,000 after buying an additional 106 shares during the period. Somerset Trust Co raised its holdings in Accenture by 0.3% in the 3rd quarter. Somerset Trust Co now owns 12,650 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $4,472,000 after acquiring an additional 33 shares in the last quarter. Patten Group Inc. increased its holdings in Accenture by 20.2% in the 3rd quarter. Patten Group Inc. now owns 3,696 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $1,306,000 after buying an additional 621 shares during the period. Wedmont Private Capital lifted its stake in Accenture by 31.3% during the third quarter. Wedmont Private Capital now owns 4,389 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $1,566,000 after purchasing an additional 1,047 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Marcum Wealth LLC boosted its stake in Accenture by 12.0% in the third quarter. Marcum Wealth LLC now owns 2,236 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $790,000 after buying an additional 239 shares in the last quarter. 75.14% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at Accenture

In other news, insider Ellyn Shook sold 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $329.82, for a total value of $1,649,100.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 8,989 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,964,751.98. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other Accenture news, CFO Kathleen R. Mcclure sold 1,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, July 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $315.00, for a total transaction of $472,500.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 38,570 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,149,550. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Ellyn Shook sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $329.82, for a total value of $1,649,100.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 8,989 shares in the company, valued at $2,964,751.98. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 14,645 shares of company stock valued at $4,818,002. Company insiders own 0.07% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have weighed in on ACN shares. StockNews.com raised shares of Accenture from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, September 27th. Barclays boosted their price target on shares of Accenture from $350.00 to $415.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, September 30th. Guggenheim upped their target price on Accenture from $380.00 to $395.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, September 27th. Bank of America raised their price target on shares of Accenture from $365.00 to $388.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, September 27th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on Accenture from $380.00 to $390.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, September 27th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Accenture has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $371.18.

Accenture Stock Down 1.1 %

Accenture stock opened at $361.07 on Friday. Accenture plc has a twelve month low of $278.69 and a twelve month high of $387.51. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $338.56 and a 200-day moving average price of $320.27. The company has a market capitalization of $226.28 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.07, a P/E/G ratio of 3.69 and a beta of 1.25.

Accenture (NYSE:ACN) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, September 26th. The information technology services provider reported $2.79 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.78 by $0.01. Accenture had a net margin of 10.79% and a return on equity of 27.48%. The firm had revenue of $16.41 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.37 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $2.71 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 2.6% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts expect that Accenture plc will post 11.95 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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

Accenture Increases Dividend

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

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.