Accenture (NYSE:ACN) Stock Price Up 0.7% – Here’s Why

Accenture plc (NYSE:ACN) was up 0.7% during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The company traded as high as $366.59 and last traded at $365.52. Approximately 378,305 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 86% from the average daily volume of 2,682,588 shares. The stock had previously closed at $362.90.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently commented on ACN. Citigroup boosted their price objective on Accenture from $350.00 to $405.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 17th. Bank of America upped their price target on shares of Accenture from $365.00 to $388.00 and gave the company 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 report on Friday, September 20th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price target on Accenture from $377.00 to $389.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, September 27th. Finally, BNP Paribas lowered Accenture from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $375.00 target price for the company. in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $373.32.

Accenture Price Performance

The company has a market capitalization of $224.23 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.38, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.23 and a beta of 1.24. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $360.61 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $334.25.

Accenture (NYSE:ACN) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, September 26th. The information technology services provider reported $2.79 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.78 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $16.41 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $16.37 billion. Accenture had a return on equity of 26.83% and a net margin of 11.20%. The business’s revenue was up 2.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.71 earnings per share. On average, analysts anticipate that Accenture plc will post 12.74 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Accenture Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, October 10th were given a dividend of $1.48 per share. This represents a $5.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.65%. This is a positive change from Accenture’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.29. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, October 10th. Accenture’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 51.79%.

Accenture declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share buyback 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 buy up to 1.8% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are often an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Transactions at Accenture

In other Accenture news, CEO Ryoji Sekido sold 3,191 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $343.70, for a total transaction of $1,096,746.70. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 6 shares in the company, valued at $2,062.20. This represents a 99.81 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CFO Kathleen R. Mcclure sold 5,090 shares of Accenture stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $373.22, for a total value of $1,899,689.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 38,825 shares in the company, valued at approximately $14,490,266.50. The trade was a 11.59 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 36,298 shares of company stock valued at $13,372,661. 0.07% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Accenture

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Morse Asset Management Inc acquired a new stake in shares of Accenture during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $25,000. Unique Wealth Strategies LLC bought a new position in Accenture in the second quarter worth approximately $26,000. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC acquired a new stake in Accenture in the second quarter valued at approximately $28,000. MidAtlantic Capital Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Accenture during the third quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Finally, Mowery & Schoenfeld Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Accenture by 607.1% in the 3rd quarter. Mowery & Schoenfeld Wealth Management LLC now owns 99 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 85 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.14% of the company’s stock.

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.