Accenture PLC $ACN Stock Sold by Moors & Cabot Inc.

Moors & Cabot Inc. decreased its position in shares of Accenture PLC (NYSE:ACN) by 59.1% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 12,459 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock after selling 17,989 shares during the period. Moors & Cabot Inc.’s holdings in Accenture were worth $2,285,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Bank of America Corp DE increased its position in shares of Accenture by 2.2% during the 1st quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 6,531,231 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $1,295,078,000 after purchasing an additional 143,483 shares during the last quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC lifted its position in Accenture by 17.7% in the 3rd quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC now owns 6,054,682 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $1,110,247,000 after buying an additional 912,506 shares during the last quarter. First Trust Advisors LP lifted its position in Accenture by 120.0% in the 1st quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 3,482,150 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $690,475,000 after buying an additional 1,899,305 shares during the last quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company boosted its stake in Accenture by 24.3% in the first quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 2,384,954 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $472,913,000 after buying an additional 466,452 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Artemis Investment Management LLP boosted its stake in Accenture by 67.6% in the third quarter. Artemis Investment Management LLP now owns 2,196,789 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $402,825,000 after buying an additional 885,687 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 75.14% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on ACN shares. UBS Group set a $278.00 price objective on shares of Accenture in a report on Thursday, October 15th. Robert W. Baird lowered shares of Accenture from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and increased their target price for the company from $245.00 to $252.00 in a report on Wednesday, October 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on shares of Accenture from $179.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, September 25th. TD Cowen upped their price target on shares of Accenture from $193.00 to $201.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 15th. Finally, Citigroup raised their price objective on Accenture from $135.00 to $190.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, August 24th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seventeen have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $221.07.

Accenture Trading Up 0.3%

Shares of Accenture stock traded up $0.85 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $250.80. 3,400,376 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 5,925,131. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $216.73 and a 200-day moving average of $191.22. Accenture PLC has a 12 month low of $118.15 and a 12 month high of $291.09. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a quick ratio of 1.43 and a current ratio of 1.43. The company has a market cap of $148.23 billion, a PE ratio of 18.50, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.92 and a beta of 1.01.

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

Accenture Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 13th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, October 13th were given a $1.71 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, October 13th. This represents a $6.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.7%. This is a boost from Accenture’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.63. Accenture’s payout ratio is currently 50.44%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Accenture

In other Accenture news, CEO Julie Sweet bought 12,200 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 26th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $245.99 per share, for a total transaction of $3,001,078.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the chief executive officer owned 48,910 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $12,031,370.90. This trade represents a 33.23% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Ryoji Sekido sold 5,844 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $244.84, for a total value of $1,430,844.96. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 1,194 shares in the company, valued at $292,338.96. This trade represents a 83.03% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 18,675 shares of company stock valued at $4,747,563. 0.02% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

About Accenture

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.