Accenture PLC $ACN Shares Bought by Vest Financial LLC

Vest Financial LLC raised its holdings in Accenture PLC (NYSE:ACN) by 22.8% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 367,429 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 68,212 shares during the period. Vest Financial LLC’s holdings in Accenture were worth $67,375,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Dogwood Wealth Management LLC grew its position in shares of Accenture by 147.1% during the second quarter. Dogwood Wealth Management LLC now owns 215 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $27,000 after buying an additional 128 shares in the last quarter. IMG Wealth Management Inc. raised its holdings in Accenture by 134.8% in the first quarter. IMG Wealth Management Inc. now owns 155 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $31,000 after acquiring an additional 89 shares in the last quarter. Arlington Trust Co LLC raised its holdings in Accenture by 110.4% in the second quarter. Arlington Trust Co LLC now owns 284 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $35,000 after acquiring an additional 149 shares in the last quarter. S&G Foundation acquired a new stake in Accenture in the second quarter valued at $37,000. Finally, Whipplewood Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Accenture by 57.9% during the 1st quarter. Whipplewood Advisors LLC now owns 210 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $42,000 after acquiring an additional 77 shares during the last quarter. 75.14% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ACN has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Guggenheim reissued a “neutral” rating on shares of Accenture in a report on Friday, October 2nd. Jefferies Financial Group set a $220.00 target price on shares of Accenture in a research report on Friday, October 2nd. Wolfe Research upped their target price on shares of Accenture from $165.00 to $215.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 25th. Wells Fargo & Company reaffirmed a “reduce” rating on shares of Accenture in a research report on Friday, October 2nd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of Accenture from $179.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, September 25th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, sixteen have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Accenture currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $219.52.

Insider Buying and Selling at Accenture

In other Accenture news, General Counsel Joel Unruch sold 10,498 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $162.98, for a total transaction of $1,710,964.04. Following the sale, the general counsel directly owned 17,735 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,890,450.30. This represents a 37.18% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, COO Catherine Hogan sold 700 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $214.24, for a total transaction of $149,968.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer owned 11,856 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,540,029.44. The trade was a 5.58% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 12,518 shares of company stock valued at $2,124,932. 0.02% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Accenture Price Performance

Shares of NYSE ACN opened at $240.61 on Thursday. Accenture PLC has a twelve month low of $118.15 and a twelve month high of $291.09. The company has a current ratio of 1.43, a quick ratio of 1.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31. The company has a market capitalization of $160.68 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.74, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.84 and a beta of 1.11. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $192.96 and a 200-day simple moving average of $175.23.

Accenture (NYSE:ACN) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 1st. The information technology services provider reported $3.29 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.18 by $0.11. Accenture had a return on equity of 26.53% and a net margin of 11.28%. The business had revenue of $18.68 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $18.03 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $3.03 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 6.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Accenture has set its FY 2027 guidance at 14.390-14.810 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Accenture PLC will post 14.68 earnings per share for the current year.

Accenture Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 13th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, October 13th will be paid a dividend of $1.71 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, October 13th. This is a positive change from Accenture’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.63. This represents a $6.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.8%. Accenture’s payout ratio is presently 50.44%.

About Accenture

Accenture plc is a global professional services company that helps organizations transform their businesses through consulting, technology and managed services. Its work spans strategy and consulting, technology implementation, operations, and interactive customer experiences.

The company provides services in areas including cloud computing, artificial intelligence, cybersecurity, data and analytics, digital engineering, enterprise software, systems integration and business process outsourcing.