Spire Wealth Management Increases Stock Position in Accenture plc (NYSE:ACN)

Spire Wealth Management grew its holdings in Accenture plc (NYSE:ACN) by 105.1% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 25,212 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 12,917 shares during the quarter. Spire Wealth Management’s holdings in Accenture were worth $7,650,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. McKinley Carter Wealth Services Inc. raised its position in shares of Accenture by 7.4% during the 4th quarter. McKinley Carter Wealth Services Inc. now owns 29,204 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $10,248,000 after acquiring an additional 2,008 shares in the last quarter. TrinityPoint Wealth LLC grew its stake in Accenture by 3.6% during the 4th quarter. TrinityPoint Wealth LLC now owns 3,646 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $1,279,000 after buying an additional 125 shares during the last quarter. Buckingham Capital Management Inc. grew its stake in Accenture by 3.4% during the 4th quarter. Buckingham Capital Management Inc. now owns 27,559 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $9,671,000 after buying an additional 900 shares during the last quarter. Focus Financial Network Inc. ADV purchased a new position in Accenture during the 4th quarter worth approximately $4,594,000. Finally, New Mexico Educational Retirement Board grew its stake in Accenture by 11.9% during the 1st quarter. New Mexico Educational Retirement Board now owns 36,750 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $12,393,000 after buying an additional 3,900 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.14% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently weighed in on ACN. Mizuho decreased their price target on Accenture from $398.00 to $350.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, June 18th. Guggenheim reissued a “buy” rating and set a $395.00 price target on shares of Accenture in a report on Friday, May 24th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft downgraded Accenture from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and decreased their price target for the company from $409.00 to $295.00 in a research note on Wednesday, May 15th. Piper Sandler Companies cut their price target on shares of Accenture from $379.00 to $320.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday, June 17th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group lowered their target price on shares of Accenture from $340.00 to $275.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, June 5th. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Accenture has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $352.33.

Insider Transactions at Accenture

In related news, insider Ellyn Shook sold 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $329.82, for a total value of $1,649,100.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 8,989 shares in the company, valued at $2,964,751.98. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. In other news, insider Ellyn Shook sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $329.82, for a total transaction of $1,649,100.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 8,989 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,964,751.98. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CFO Kathleen R. Mcclure sold 1,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $315.00, for a total value of $472,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 38,570 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,149,550. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 21,421 shares of company stock worth $6,912,635. 0.07% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Accenture Stock Performance

Accenture stock traded up $1.74 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $341.95. 2,004,144 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,997,440. The stock has a market cap of $214.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.31, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.81 and a beta of 1.23. Accenture plc has a one year low of $278.69 and a one year high of $387.51. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $319.98 and a 200-day moving average price of $325.26.

Accenture (NYSE:ACN) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, June 20th. The information technology services provider reported $3.13 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.15 by ($0.02). The firm had revenue of $16.47 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $16.55 billion. Accenture had a return on equity of 27.48% and a net margin of 10.79%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down .6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $3.19 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that Accenture plc will post 11.95 EPS for the current year.

Accenture Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, July 11th were paid a dividend of $1.29 per share. This represents a $5.16 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.51%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, July 11th. Accenture’s payout ratio is 47.25%.

Accenture Company 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.