Good Life Advisors LLC Raises Position in Accenture plc (NYSE:ACN)

Good Life Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Accenture plc (NYSE:ACN) by 22.3% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 4,367 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 796 shares during the quarter. Good Life Advisors LLC’s holdings in Accenture were worth $1,544,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in ACN. Annapolis Financial Services LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Accenture by 507.7% in the 1st quarter. Annapolis Financial Services LLC now owns 79 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 66 shares during the last quarter. Unique Wealth Strategies LLC acquired a new position in Accenture in the second quarter valued at $26,000. CarsonAllaria Wealth Management Ltd. purchased a new stake in Accenture during the first quarter valued at about $35,000. Tsfg LLC raised its holdings in shares of Accenture by 267.9% in the 1st quarter. Tsfg LLC now owns 103 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $36,000 after purchasing an additional 75 shares during the period. Finally, Creekmur Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Accenture by 108.0% in the 1st quarter. Creekmur Asset Management LLC now owns 104 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $36,000 after purchasing an additional 54 shares in the last quarter. 75.14% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Accenture Stock Performance

NYSE:ACN opened at $375.30 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $344.26 and a 200 day simple moving average of $321.51. Accenture plc has a one year low of $278.69 and a one year high of $387.51. The company has a market capitalization of $235.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.37, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.47 and a beta of 1.25.

Accenture (NYSE:ACN) last issued 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. Accenture had a net margin of 11.20% and a return on equity of 26.83%. The firm had revenue of $16.41 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $16.37 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $2.71 EPS. Accenture’s quarterly revenue was up 2.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Accenture plc will post 12.79 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Accenture announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock buyback program on Thursday, September 26th that permits the company to buyback $4.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the information technology services provider to purchase up to 1.8% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are usually an indication that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

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 $1.48 dividend. This is a boost from Accenture’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.29. This represents a $5.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.58%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, October 10th. Accenture’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 54.21%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Accenture news, General Counsel Joel Unruch sold 8,145 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $331.05, for a total value of $2,696,402.25. Following the completion of the transaction, the general counsel now directly owns 22,849 shares in the company, valued at $7,564,161.45. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. In related news, insider Ellyn Shook sold 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $329.82, for a total transaction of $1,649,100.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 8,989 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,964,751.98. 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 accessible through the SEC website. Also, General Counsel Joel Unruch sold 8,145 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $331.05, for a total transaction of $2,696,402.25. Following the completion of the transaction, the general counsel now owns 22,849 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,564,161.45. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.07% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts recently commented on the stock. UBS Group raised their price target on shares of Accenture from $400.00 to $415.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, September 27th. Piper Sandler upgraded shares of Accenture from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $329.00 to $395.00 in a report on Thursday, September 26th. Guggenheim raised their price objective on Accenture from $380.00 to $395.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, September 27th. StockNews.com raised Accenture from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, September 27th. Finally, Barclays raised their target price on Accenture from $350.00 to $415.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, September 30th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $371.18.

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.