Core Alternative Capital Lowers Holdings in Accenture plc (NYSE:ACN)

Core Alternative Capital lowered its holdings in shares of Accenture plc (NYSE:ACN) by 11.1% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 24,974 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock after selling 3,131 shares during the quarter. Accenture makes up 1.5% of Core Alternative Capital’s portfolio, making the stock its 23rd biggest holding. Core Alternative Capital’s holdings in Accenture were worth $7,577,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Accretive Wealth Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Accenture by 2.3% in the fourth quarter. Accretive Wealth Partners LLC now owns 2,171 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $762,000 after buying an additional 48 shares in the last quarter. Aveo Capital Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of Accenture by 7.6% during the 4th quarter. Aveo Capital Partners LLC now owns 2,264 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $794,000 after acquiring an additional 160 shares during the last quarter. 9258 Wealth Management LLC increased its position in Accenture by 3.6% in the fourth quarter. 9258 Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,308 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $459,000 after purchasing an additional 46 shares during the last quarter. Campbell & CO Investment Adviser LLC bought a new stake in shares of Accenture in the 4th quarter worth about $1,776,000. Finally, Jones Financial Companies Lllp grew its position in Accenture by 19.4% in the fourth quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 17,892 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $6,278,000 after acquiring an additional 2,903 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 75.14% of the company’s stock.

Accenture Price Performance

Shares of ACN stock opened at $349.70 on Monday. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $333.92 and its 200 day moving average price is $320.40. Accenture plc has a 1-year low of $278.69 and a 1-year high of $387.51. The company has a market cap of $219.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.02, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.69 and a beta of 1.24.

Accenture (NYSE:ACN) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, September 26th. The information technology services provider reported $2.79 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.78 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $16.41 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $16.37 billion. Accenture had a net margin of 10.79% and a return on equity of 27.48%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $2.71 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Accenture plc will post 11.95 earnings per share for the current year.

Accenture declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a share repurchase program on Thursday, September 26th that permits the company to repurchase $4.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the information technology services provider to buy up to 1.8% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are typically an indication that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Accenture Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, October 10th will be issued a dividend of $1.48 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, October 10th. This is a positive change from Accenture’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.29. This represents a $5.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.69%. Accenture’s payout ratio is 47.25%.

Insider Activity at Accenture

In other Accenture news, General Counsel Joel Unruch sold 8,145 shares of Accenture stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $331.05, for a total transaction of $2,696,402.25. Following the completion of the sale, the general counsel now owns 22,849 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,564,161.45. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other news, insider Ellyn Shook sold 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, General Counsel Joel Unruch sold 8,145 shares of Accenture stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 transaction, the general counsel now owns 22,849 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,564,161.45. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 21,421 shares of company stock valued at $6,912,635 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.07% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on ACN shares. Guggenheim upped their price objective on Accenture from $380.00 to $395.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday. Barclays cut their price objective on shares of Accenture from $390.00 to $350.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, June 17th. Citigroup raised their target price on shares of Accenture from $350.00 to $405.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 17th. Morgan Stanley downgraded shares of Accenture from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and cut their price target for the company from $382.00 to $300.00 in a report on Wednesday, June 26th. Finally, TD Cowen boosted their target price on Accenture from $293.00 to $321.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 12th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $364.64.

About Accenture

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.