Greenvale Capital LLP Invests $75.85 Million in Accenture plc (NYSE:ACN)

Greenvale Capital LLP bought a new position in Accenture plc (NYSE:ACN) in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm bought 250,000 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $75,852,000. Accenture accounts for approximately 4.8% of Greenvale Capital LLP’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 11th largest holding.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Old North State Trust LLC lifted its position in shares of Accenture by 3.0% in the 2nd quarter. Old North State Trust LLC now owns 1,942 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $589,000 after purchasing an additional 57 shares during the period. Kimelman & Baird LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Accenture in the 2nd quarter worth about $303,000. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. increased its stake in shares of Accenture by 31.8% in the 2nd quarter. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 15,246 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $4,626,000 after acquiring an additional 3,676 shares in the last quarter. Saratoga Research & Investment Management increased its stake in shares of Accenture by 38.3% in the 2nd quarter. Saratoga Research & Investment Management now owns 170,313 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $51,675,000 after acquiring an additional 47,192 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Quarry LP increased its stake in shares of Accenture by 340.5% in the 2nd quarter. Quarry LP now owns 652 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $198,000 after acquiring an additional 504 shares in the last quarter. 75.14% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Accenture

In other Accenture news, CEO Julie Spellman Sweet sold 3,776 shares of Accenture 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 11,819 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,652,661.95. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, CEO Julie Spellman Sweet sold 3,776 shares of Accenture 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 sale, the chief executive officer now owns 11,819 shares in the company, valued at $3,652,661.95. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CFO Kathleen R. Mcclure sold 1,500 shares of Accenture stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $315.00, for a total transaction of $472,500.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 38,570 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,149,550. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 21,421 shares of company stock valued at $6,912,635 over the last 90 days. 0.07% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently issued reports on ACN. Guggenheim increased their price target on shares of Accenture from $380.00 to $395.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday. BMO Capital Markets increased 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. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Accenture from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday. Susquehanna raised their price objective on shares of Accenture from $350.00 to $360.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday. Finally, Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Accenture from $350.00 to $415.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $371.18.

Accenture Trading Up 1.0 %

ACN opened at $353.33 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $221.43 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.36, a PEG ratio of 3.69 and a beta of 1.24. The company’s 50 day moving average is $334.35 and its 200 day moving average is $320.23. Accenture plc has a 12-month low of $278.69 and a 12-month high of $387.51.

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, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.78 by $0.01. The company 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 firm’s revenue was up 2.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $2.71 earnings per share. As a group, analysts predict that Accenture plc will post 11.95 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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

Accenture Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 15th. Shareholders 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 represents a $5.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.68%. This is an increase from Accenture’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.29. Accenture’s payout ratio is currently 47.25%.

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.