24,437 Accenture PLC $ACN Shares Sold by UNIVEST FINANCIAL Corp

UNIVEST FINANCIAL Corp decreased its holdings in Accenture PLC (NYSE:ACN) by 81.7% in the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 5,479 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock after selling 24,437 shares during the period. UNIVEST FINANCIAL Corp’s holdings in Accenture were worth $1,005,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Joel Isaacson & Co. LLC grew its position in shares of Accenture by 7.1% in the 3rd quarter. Joel Isaacson & Co. LLC now owns 2,304 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $422,000 after buying an additional 153 shares during the last quarter. Jacobi Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Accenture by 14.3% during the 3rd quarter. Jacobi Capital Management LLC now owns 11,506 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $2,110,000 after acquiring an additional 1,440 shares in the last quarter. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. lifted its position in Accenture by 261.2% during the third quarter. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. now owns 126,100 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $23,123,000 after acquiring an additional 91,186 shares during the last quarter. Altman Advisors Inc. lifted its position in Accenture by 97.0% during the third quarter. Altman Advisors Inc. now owns 9,720 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $1,782,000 after acquiring an additional 4,785 shares during the last quarter. Finally, First Command Advisory Services Inc. boosted its stake in Accenture by 90.9% in the third quarter. First Command Advisory Services Inc. now owns 609 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $112,000 after acquiring an additional 290 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.14% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on ACN shares. Stifel Nicolaus set a $242.00 price target on Accenture in a research report on Thursday, October 15th. Wolfe Research raised their price objective on Accenture from $165.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 25th. BMO Capital Markets set a $235.00 target price on Accenture in a research note on Friday, October 2nd. Argus upped their target price on Accenture from $220.00 to $260.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, October 2nd. Finally, Guggenheim reiterated a “neutral” rating on shares of Accenture in a research note on Friday, October 2nd. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seventeen have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Accenture presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $221.07.

Accenture Price Performance

Shares of NYSE ACN opened at $250.20 on Friday. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $215.58 and its 200 day moving average price is $191.35. The firm has a market cap of $147.88 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.45, a P/E/G ratio of 1.95 and a beta of 1.01. Accenture PLC has a 52 week low of $118.15 and a 52 week high of $291.09. The company has a quick ratio of 1.43, a current ratio of 1.43 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31.

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. Accenture had a net margin of 11.28% and a return on equity of 26.53%. The company had revenue of $18.68 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $18.03 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $3.03 EPS. Accenture’s quarterly revenue 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 expect that Accenture PLC will post 14.68 earnings per share for the current year.

Accenture Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed 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. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, October 13th. This is an increase from Accenture’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.63. This represents a $6.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.7%. Accenture’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 50.44%.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Atsushi Egawa sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $270.00, for a total transaction of $2,700,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 5,996 shares in the company, valued at $1,618,920. The trade was a 62.52% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, COO Catherine Hogan sold 1,320 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $200.00, for a total transaction of $264,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer owned 12,556 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,511,200. This represents a 9.51% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold a total of 18,675 shares of company stock valued at $4,747,563 over the last quarter. Insiders own 0.02% of the company’s stock.

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.