Accenture PLC $ACN Stock: Walled Lake Planning & Wealth Management LLC Decreases Holdings

Walled Lake Planning & Wealth Management LLC decreased its position in shares of Accenture PLC (NYSE:ACN) by 64.1% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 3,288 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock after selling 5,882 shares during the quarter. Walled Lake Planning & Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Accenture were worth $603,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Patrick M Sweeney & Associates Inc. grew its stake in Accenture by 2.0% during the 3rd quarter. Patrick M Sweeney & Associates Inc. now owns 2,249 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $412,000 after buying an additional 45 shares during the last quarter. Alpine Bank Wealth Management lifted its stake in Accenture by 18.3% in the third quarter. Alpine Bank Wealth Management now owns 323 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $59,000 after buying an additional 50 shares during the last quarter. Alliance Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Accenture by 2.9% in the third quarter. Alliance Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,819 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $334,000 after acquiring an additional 51 shares during the period. Hibernia Wealth Partners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Accenture by 4.5% in the first quarter. Hibernia Wealth Partners LLC now owns 1,354 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $269,000 after acquiring an additional 58 shares during the period. Finally, GS Investments Inc. grew its position in shares of Accenture by 0.5% during the first quarter. GS Investments Inc. now owns 12,415 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $2,462,000 after acquiring an additional 60 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.14% of the company’s stock.

Accenture Trading Down 0.1%

NYSE:ACN opened at $257.93 on Monday. Accenture PLC has a 12-month low of $118.15 and a 12-month high of $291.09. The company has a current ratio of 1.43, a quick ratio of 1.43 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $202.76 and its 200-day simple moving average is $192.43. The firm has a market cap of $152.45 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.02, a PEG ratio of 1.98 and a beta of 1.01.

Accenture (NYSE:ACN) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 1st. The information technology services provider reported $3.29 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.18 by $0.11. The firm had revenue of $18.68 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $18.03 billion. Accenture had a return on equity of 26.53% and a net margin of 11.28%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $3.03 earnings per share. Accenture has set its FY 2027 guidance at 14.390-14.810 EPS. Equities analysts anticipate that Accenture PLC will post 14.68 EPS for the current year.

Accenture Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 13th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, October 13th will be paid a $1.71 dividend. This is a boost from Accenture’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.63. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, October 13th. This represents a $6.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.7%. Accenture’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 50.44%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, COO Catherine Hogan sold 700 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 12th. The shares were 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 directly owned 11,856 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,540,029.44. This represents a 5.58% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CAO Melissa A. Burgum sold 811 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, October 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $250.00, for a total transaction of $202,750.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer owned 9,820 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,455,000. The trade was a 7.63% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 8,675 shares of company stock valued at $2,047,563. Corporate insiders own 0.02% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts recently commented on ACN shares. Susquehanna upped their price target on shares of Accenture from $210.00 to $230.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 15th. Wolfe Research raised their price objective on shares of Accenture from $165.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 25th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of Accenture from $210.00 to $252.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, October 26th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of Accenture from $179.00 to $200.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, September 25th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group increased their target price on shares of Accenture from $230.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 1st. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seventeen have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Accenture currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $221.07.

Accenture Company Profile

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.