PFG Investments LLC Sells 45 Shares of Accenture plc (NYSE:ACN)

PFG Investments LLC cut its stake in shares of Accenture plc (NYSE:ACN) by 1.3% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 3,372 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock after selling 45 shares during the period. PFG Investments LLC’s holdings in Accenture were worth $1,192,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Swedbank AB acquired a new position in Accenture during the first quarter worth $820,912,000. Clearbridge Investments LLC increased its stake in shares of Accenture by 44.7% during the 2nd quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 2,709,989 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $822,238,000 after purchasing an additional 837,677 shares during the last quarter. 1832 Asset Management L.P. raised its holdings in shares of Accenture by 251.3% in the 2nd quarter. 1832 Asset Management L.P. now owns 995,896 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $302,165,000 after purchasing an additional 712,400 shares during the period. Capital International Investors grew its holdings in Accenture by 196.5% during the first quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 988,094 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $342,483,000 after purchasing an additional 654,807 shares during the period. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in Accenture by 1.1% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 59,718,732 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $20,699,110,000 after buying an additional 635,349 shares during the last quarter. 75.14% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ACN has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Bank of America boosted their target price on Accenture from $365.00 to $388.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, September 27th. Piper Sandler Companies restated a “neutral” rating and set a $329.00 target price on shares of Accenture in a research note on Friday, September 20th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on shares of Accenture from $376.00 to $370.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, September 24th. Piper Sandler upgraded Accenture from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $329.00 to $395.00 in a report on Thursday, September 26th. Finally, TD Cowen upgraded Accenture from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $321.00 to $400.00 in a research note on Monday, September 30th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $371.18.

Insider Buying and Selling at Accenture

In related news, COO John F. Walsh sold 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $373.24, for a total value of $1,866,200.00. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 17,593 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,566,411.32. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other Accenture news, CFO Kathleen R. Mcclure sold 5,090 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $373.22, for a total transaction of $1,899,689.80. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 38,825 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $14,490,266.50. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, COO John F. Walsh sold 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, October 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $373.24, for a total value of $1,866,200.00. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 17,593 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,566,411.32. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 24,971 shares of company stock worth $9,330,113. 0.07% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Accenture Price Performance

ACN stock opened at $360.80 on Monday. Accenture plc has a 1 year low of $278.69 and a 1 year high of $387.51. The stock has a market cap of $226.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.04, a P/E/G ratio of 3.47 and a beta of 1.25. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $350.24 and a 200 day simple moving average of $322.93.

Accenture (NYSE:ACN) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, September 26th. The information technology services provider reported $2.79 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.78 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $16.41 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $16.37 billion. Accenture had a return on equity of 26.83% and a net margin of 11.20%. Accenture’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $2.71 EPS. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Accenture plc will post 12.79 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Accenture Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, October 10th will be given a dividend of $1.48 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, October 10th. This is an increase from Accenture’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.29. This represents a $5.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.64%. Accenture’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 54.21%.

Accenture declared that its board has initiated a share repurchase program on Thursday, September 26th that allows the company to buyback $4.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the information technology services provider to repurchase up to 1.8% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are generally a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Accenture Profile

Accenture plc, a professional services company, provides strategy and consulting, industry X, song, and technology and operation services worldwide. The company offers application services, including agile transformation, DevOps, application modernization, enterprise architecture, software and quality engineering, data management; intelligent automation comprising robotic process automation, natural language processing, and virtual agents; and application management services, as well as software engineering services; strategy and consulting services; data and analytics strategy, data discovery and augmentation, data management and beyond, data democratization, and industrialized solutions comprising turnkey analytics and artificial intelligence (AI) solutions; metaverse; and sustainability services.