Saratoga Research & Investment Management Acquires 47,192 Shares of Accenture plc (NYSE:ACN)

Saratoga Research & Investment Management raised its stake in Accenture plc (NYSE:ACN) by 38.3% in the second quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 170,313 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 47,192 shares during the period. Accenture makes up approximately 2.3% of Saratoga Research & Investment Management’s holdings, making the stock its 16th largest holding. Saratoga Research & Investment Management’s holdings in Accenture were worth $51,675,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Pin Oak Investment Advisors Inc. raised its position in shares of Accenture by 8.2% during the fourth quarter. Pin Oak Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 357 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $125,000 after acquiring an additional 27 shares during the last quarter. Kolinsky Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in Accenture by 1.0% in the fourth quarter. Kolinsky Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,888 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $1,013,000 after acquiring an additional 30 shares during the last quarter. West Paces Advisors Inc. raised its position in shares of Accenture by 10.2% during the 1st quarter. West Paces Advisors Inc. now owns 346 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $120,000 after acquiring an additional 32 shares during the last quarter. Tsfg LLC lifted its stake in shares of Accenture by 31.1% in the 2nd quarter. Tsfg LLC now owns 135 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $41,000 after purchasing an additional 32 shares during the period. Finally, Meadow Creek Wealth Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Accenture by 4.5% in the second quarter. Meadow Creek Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 747 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $227,000 after purchasing an additional 32 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 75.14% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Ellyn Shook sold 5,000 shares of the company’s 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 sale, the insider now directly owns 8,989 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,964,751.98. 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 firm’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 value of $1,649,100.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 8,989 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,964,751.98. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Julie Spellman Sweet sold 3,776 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $309.05, for a total transaction of $1,166,972.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 11,819 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,652,661.95. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 21,421 shares of company stock worth $6,912,635 over the last three months. Insiders own 0.07% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have issued reports on ACN. Robert W. Baird increased their price target on Accenture from $350.00 to $370.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday. The Goldman Sachs Group initiated coverage on shares of Accenture in a report on Monday, June 24th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $335.00 price target for the company. Guggenheim raised their price objective on shares of Accenture from $380.00 to $395.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday. Citigroup upped their target price on shares of Accenture from $350.00 to $405.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 17th. Finally, Piper Sandler Companies reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $329.00 price target on shares of Accenture in a research note on Friday, September 20th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Accenture presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $368.23.

Accenture Price Performance

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

Accenture (NYSE:ACN) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, September 26th. The information technology services provider reported $2.79 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.78 by $0.01. Accenture had a return on equity of 27.48% and a net margin of 10.79%. The business had revenue of $16.41 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $16.37 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $2.71 earnings per share. Accenture’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts expect that Accenture plc will post 11.95 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Accenture announced that its board has approved a share repurchase 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 buy up to 1.8% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are often a sign that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Accenture Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, October 10th will be given a dividend of $1.48 per share. This is an increase from Accenture’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.29. This represents a $5.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.69%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, October 10th. Accenture’s payout ratio is currently 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.