Accenture plc (NYSE:ACN) Shares Sold by Union Savings Bank

Union Savings Bank cut its position in Accenture plc (NYSE:ACN) by 3.2% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 4,040 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock after selling 135 shares during the quarter. Accenture accounts for 0.7% of Union Savings Bank’s holdings, making the stock its 27th biggest position. Union Savings Bank’s holdings in Accenture were worth $1,421,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of ACN. Cove Private Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in Accenture during the 4th quarter worth about $411,000. DLK Investment Management LLC raised its position in shares of Accenture by 2.6% during the 4th quarter. DLK Investment Management LLC now owns 9,727 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $3,422,000 after acquiring an additional 248 shares in the last quarter. Stokes Capital Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Accenture by 0.4% during the fourth quarter. Stokes Capital Advisors LLC now owns 22,465 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $7,903,000 after purchasing an additional 88 shares during the last quarter. Thrive Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in Accenture by 4.6% in the fourth quarter. Thrive Wealth Management LLC now owns 940 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $331,000 after purchasing an additional 41 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Willner & Heller LLC acquired a new stake in Accenture during the fourth quarter worth approximately $220,000. 75.14% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Accenture Trading Up 0.5 %

Shares of ACN stock opened at $352.33 on Monday. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $357.59 and its 200 day moving average price is $345.65. The firm has a market capitalization of $220.49 billion, a PE ratio of 29.56, a P/E/G ratio of 3.11 and a beta of 1.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17, a current ratio of 1.47 and a quick ratio of 1.47. Accenture plc has a 1-year low of $278.69 and a 1-year high of $387.51.

Accenture (NYSE:ACN) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, December 19th. The information technology services provider reported $3.59 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.43 by $0.16. Accenture had a net margin of 11.41% and a return on equity of 26.91%. The business had revenue of $17.69 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $17.15 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $3.27 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 9.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Accenture plc will post 12.69 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Accenture Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 14th. Investors of record on Thursday, January 16th will be issued a $1.48 dividend. This represents a $5.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.68%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, January 16th. Accenture’s dividend payout ratio is currently 49.66%.

Accenture announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock buyback plan on Thursday, September 26th that authorizes the company to repurchase $4.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the information technology services provider to repurchase up to 1.8% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are usually a sign that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently commented on ACN. Piper Sandler increased their target price on shares of Accenture from $422.00 to $429.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded Accenture from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $370.00 to $420.00 in a research report on Friday, December 6th. Wolfe Research raised Accenture from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $425.00 target price for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. UBS Group lifted their price target on Accenture from $450.00 to $455.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Finally, BNP Paribas lowered shares of Accenture from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $375.00 target price on the stock. in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $385.04.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Angela Beatty sold 673 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $372.18, for a total transaction of $250,477.14. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 5,650 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,102,817. This trade represents a 10.64 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Julie Spellman Sweet sold 8,136 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $362.07, for a total value of $2,945,801.52. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 12,188 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,412,909.16. The trade was a 40.03 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 17,125 shares of company stock valued at $6,184,820. 0.02% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.