Accenture PLC $ACN Shares Sold by Pictet Asset Management Holding SA

Pictet Asset Management Holding SA lessened its holdings in Accenture PLC (NYSE:ACN) by 43.3% in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 378,009 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock after selling 288,648 shares during the quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA’s holdings in Accenture were worth $69,316,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of ACN. Regent Peak Wealth Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Accenture by 10.4% during the second quarter. Regent Peak Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 74,187 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $9,232,000 after acquiring an additional 7,018 shares during the period. Carnegie Investment Counsel grew its stake in Accenture by 63.5% in the third quarter. Carnegie Investment Counsel now owns 26,565 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $4,871,000 after purchasing an additional 10,322 shares in the last quarter. Dynamic Advisor Solutions LLC increased its holdings in Accenture by 72.4% during the 2nd quarter. Dynamic Advisor Solutions LLC now owns 19,455 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $2,421,000 after purchasing an additional 8,169 shares during the period. Dearborn Partners LLC purchased a new position in Accenture during the 2nd quarter worth $25,108,000. Finally, Bright Rock Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in Accenture during the 2nd quarter valued at $7,466,000. 75.14% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Accenture news, COO Catherine Hogan sold 1,320 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, October 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $200.00, for a total value of $264,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer directly owned 12,556 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,511,200. The trade was a 9.51% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CAO Melissa Burgum sold 811 shares of the 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 sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 9,820 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,455,000. The trade was a 7.63% 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. Insiders have sold 18,675 shares of company stock valued at $4,747,563 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.02% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have weighed in on ACN. Evercore set a $250.00 target price on Accenture and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 1st. Truist Financial raised their price target on Accenture from $150.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, October 2nd. Stifel Nicolaus set a $242.00 price objective on Accenture in a report on Thursday, October 15th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of Accenture from $210.00 to $252.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, October 26th. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their target price on shares of Accenture from $175.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, October 2nd. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seventeen have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $221.07.

Accenture Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:ACN opened at $254.34 on Tuesday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $211.64 and a 200 day moving average of $191.77. The company has a quick ratio of 1.43, a current ratio of 1.43 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31. The company has a market capitalization of $150.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.76, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.03 and a beta of 1.01. Accenture PLC has a 52 week low of $118.15 and a 52 week high of $291.09.

Accenture (NYSE:ACN) last announced its 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 analysts’ expectations of $18.03 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $3.03 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.2% on a year-over-year basis. Accenture has set its FY 2027 guidance at 14.390-14.810 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Accenture PLC will post 14.68 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Accenture Increases Dividend

The business 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 $1.71 dividend. This represents a $6.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.7%. This is a boost from Accenture’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.63. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, October 13th. Accenture’s payout ratio is presently 50.44%.

Accenture Profile

Accenture plc is a global professional services company that helps businesses, governments and other organizations solve operational and technology challenges. Its work includes strategy and management consulting, digital transformation, systems integration and the design, implementation and management of technology solutions.

The company serves clients across a broad range of industries and geographies. Its services span cloud computing, data and artificial intelligence, cybersecurity, software and platforms, business process operations, and digital marketing and customer experience.

Accenture traces its roots to the consulting business of accounting firm Arthur Andersen.