Fiduciary Alliance LLC Increases Position in Accenture plc (NYSE:ACN)

Fiduciary Alliance LLC raised its holdings in Accenture plc (NYSE:ACN) by 128.5% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,731 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,536 shares during the period. Fiduciary Alliance LLC’s holdings in Accenture were worth $965,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the business. West Paces Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in Accenture by 10.2% in the 1st quarter. West Paces Advisors Inc. now owns 346 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $120,000 after acquiring an additional 32 shares during the period. Tsfg LLC raised its position in shares of Accenture by 31.1% during the 2nd quarter. Tsfg LLC now owns 135 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $41,000 after acquiring an additional 32 shares in the last quarter. Meadow Creek Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Accenture by 4.5% during the second quarter. Meadow Creek Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 747 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $227,000 after purchasing an additional 32 shares during the last quarter. Encompass More Asset Management boosted its holdings in Accenture by 4.8% in the second quarter. Encompass More Asset Management now owns 700 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $212,000 after purchasing an additional 32 shares during the period. Finally, Country Club Bank raised its holdings in shares of Accenture by 1.0% during the second quarter. Country Club Bank now owns 3,446 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $1,045,000 after purchasing an additional 33 shares during the period. 75.14% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Accenture

In other Accenture news, General Counsel Joel Unruch sold 8,145 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the general counsel now owns 22,849 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,564,161.45. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. In other Accenture news, insider Ellyn Shook sold 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $329.82, for a total transaction of $1,649,100.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now 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 sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, General Counsel Joel Unruch sold 8,145 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 owns 22,849 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,564,161.45. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.07% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently commented on ACN shares. Citigroup upped their target price on Accenture from $350.00 to $405.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 17th. Barclays increased their target price on shares of Accenture from $350.00 to $415.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, September 30th. Morgan Stanley cut shares of Accenture from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and decreased their price objective for the company from $382.00 to $300.00 in a report on Wednesday, June 26th. TD Cowen raised Accenture from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $321.00 to $400.00 in a report on Monday, September 30th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price target on Accenture from $377.00 to $389.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, September 27th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $371.18.

Accenture Stock Up 0.4 %

Shares of NYSE:ACN traded up $1.34 during trading on Monday, reaching $362.08. 620,551 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,741,703. Accenture plc has a 1-year low of $278.69 and a 1-year high of $387.51. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $339.97 and a 200 day simple moving average of $320.48. The firm has a market cap of $226.91 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.03, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.47 and a beta of 1.25.

Accenture (NYSE:ACN) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, September 26th. The information technology services provider reported $2.79 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.78 by $0.01. Accenture had a net margin of 11.20% and a return on equity of 26.83%. The firm had revenue of $16.41 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $16.37 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $2.71 earnings per share. Accenture’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Accenture plc will post 12.79 EPS for the current year.

Accenture announced that its Board of Directors has approved a stock repurchase program on Thursday, September 26th that allows the company to buyback $4.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the information technology services provider to buy up to 1.8% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are typically a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Accenture Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, October 10th will be paid a $1.48 dividend. This represents a $5.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.63%. This is a boost from Accenture’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.29. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, October 10th. Accenture’s payout ratio 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.