Accenture (NYSE:ACN) Director Paula Price Purchases 800 Shares of Stock

Accenture PLC (NYSE:ACN) Director Paula Price purchased 800 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 26th. The stock was bought at an average price of $249.81 per share, with a total value of $199,848.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 9,361 shares in the company, valued at $2,338,471.41. This trade represents a 9.34% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website.

Accenture Price Performance

Shares of ACN opened at $235.27 on Wednesday. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $198.54 and its 200 day moving average price is $192.91. Accenture PLC has a 1-year low of $118.15 and a 1-year high of $291.09.

Accenture (NYSE:ACN) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 1st. The information technology services provider reported $3.29 EPS 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 analysts’ expectations of $18.03 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $3.03 earnings per share. Accenture’s quarterly 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. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Accenture PLC will post 14.68 earnings per share for the current year.

Accenture Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 13th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, October 13th will be issued a dividend of $1.71 per share. 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 2.9%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, October 13th.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Accenture

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Bank of America Corp DE grew its holdings 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 acquiring an additional 143,483 shares in the last quarter. First Trust Advisors LP boosted its position in Accenture by 120.0% during the first quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 3,482,150 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $690,475,000 after purchasing an additional 1,899,305 shares during the last quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC boosted its position in Accenture by 84.0% during the first quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC now owns 2,405,683 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $477,023,000 after purchasing an additional 1,097,961 shares during the last quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company grew 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 valued at $472,913,000 after purchasing an additional 466,452 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Artemis Investment Management LLP increased its position in Accenture by 67.6% in the 3rd quarter. Artemis Investment Management LLP now owns 2,196,789 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $402,825,000 after purchasing an additional 885,687 shares during 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 research firms recently commented on ACN. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective 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. Evercore set a $250.00 target price on shares of Accenture and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 1st. UBS Group set a $278.00 target price on Accenture in a report on Thursday, October 15th. Argus raised their target price on Accenture from $220.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, October 2nd. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price target on Accenture from $136.00 to $175.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, September 18th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seventeen have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $221.07.

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.