Accenture plc (NYSE:ACN) Stock Position Decreased by Neville Rodie & Shaw Inc.

Neville Rodie & Shaw Inc. cut its stake in shares of Accenture plc (NYSE:ACN) by 51.1% during the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 695 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock after selling 725 shares during the period. Neville Rodie & Shaw Inc.’s holdings in Accenture were worth $246,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Annapolis Financial Services LLC lifted its stake in Accenture by 507.7% during the first quarter. Annapolis Financial Services LLC now owns 79 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $27,000 after buying an additional 66 shares in the last quarter. Ables Iannone Moore & Associates Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Accenture during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Atwood & Palmer Inc. lifted its position in shares of Accenture by 214.8% in the 1st quarter. Atwood & Palmer Inc. now owns 85 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 58 shares in the last quarter. Unique Wealth Strategies LLC purchased a new position in Accenture during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $26,000. Finally, Grayhawk Investment Strategies Inc. acquired a new stake in Accenture during the 4th quarter valued at $35,000. 75.14% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In related news, General Counsel Joel Unruch sold 8,145 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 transaction, the general counsel now owns 22,849 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,564,161.45. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In related news, General Counsel Joel Unruch sold 8,145 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the general counsel now owns 22,849 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,564,161.45. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CFO Kathleen R. Mcclure sold 1,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $315.00, for a total transaction of $472,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 38,570 shares in the company, valued at $12,149,550. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 21,421 shares of company stock worth $6,912,635. Company insiders own 0.07% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ACN has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. StockNews.com upgraded Accenture from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, September 27th. Wedbush lowered their price objective on shares of Accenture from $400.00 to $350.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, June 12th. BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on shares of Accenture from $380.00 to $390.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, September 27th. The Goldman Sachs Group began coverage on Accenture in a research report on Monday, June 24th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $335.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Susquehanna lifted their target price on shares of Accenture from $350.00 to $360.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, September 27th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $371.18.

Accenture Stock Up 1.4 %

Accenture stock opened at $361.37 on Friday. Accenture plc has a 12 month low of $278.69 and a 12 month high of $387.51. The stock has a market cap of $226.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.09, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.69 and a beta of 1.25. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $335.96 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $320.60.

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

Accenture announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a share buyback plan on Thursday, September 26th that allows the company to repurchase $4.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the information technology services provider to purchase up to 1.8% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are usually an indication that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Accenture Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, October 10th will be paid a dividend of $1.48 per share. This is a boost from Accenture’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.29. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, October 10th. This represents a $5.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.64%. Accenture’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 54.21%.

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.