Farmers National Bank Buys 31 Shares of Accenture plc (NYSE:ACN)

Farmers National Bank grew its stake in Accenture plc (NYSE:ACN) by 0.2% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 18,783 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 31 shares during the period. Accenture comprises about 1.7% of Farmers National Bank’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 16th biggest position. Farmers National Bank’s holdings in Accenture were worth $5,699,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Swedbank AB acquired a new position in Accenture in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $820,912,000. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main raised its stake in shares of Accenture by 100.0% in the fourth quarter. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main now owns 1,751,531 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $614,615,000 after purchasing an additional 875,723 shares in the last quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC boosted its stake in Accenture by 44.7% during the second quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 2,709,989 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $822,238,000 after buying an additional 837,677 shares in the last quarter. Generation Investment Management LLP bought a new stake in Accenture in the 4th quarter valued at $286,220,000. Finally, Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado acquired a new position in shares of Accenture in the 4th quarter valued at $263,421,000. Institutional investors own 75.14% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Accenture

In related 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 completion of the sale, the insider now owns 8,989 shares in the company, valued at $2,964,751.98. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, General Counsel Joel Unruch sold 8,145 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 completion of the transaction, 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 document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, insider Ellyn Shook sold 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on 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 directly owns 8,989 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,964,751.98. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 21,421 shares of company stock worth $6,912,635 in the last three months. Insiders own 0.07% of the company’s stock.

Accenture Stock Down 0.4 %

Accenture stock opened at $352.04 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $220.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.24, a P/E/G ratio of 3.69 and a beta of 1.24. Accenture plc has a 12-month low of $278.69 and a 12-month high of $387.51. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $334.79 and its 200 day simple moving average is $320.07.

Accenture (NYSE:ACN) last issued its quarterly 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. Accenture had a net margin of 10.79% and a return on equity of 27.48%. The company had revenue of $16.41 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $16.37 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $2.71 EPS. Accenture’s revenue was up 2.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Accenture plc will post 11.95 EPS for the current year.

Accenture declared that its board has authorized a stock buyback plan 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 reacquire up to 1.8% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are often a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Accenture Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, October 10th will be paid a $1.48 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, October 10th. This represents a $5.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.68%. This is an increase from Accenture’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.29. Accenture’s dividend payout ratio is 47.25%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts recently weighed in on the stock. TD Cowen raised shares of Accenture from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their target price for the company from $321.00 to $400.00 in a research note on Monday. Robert W. Baird increased their target price on Accenture from $350.00 to $370.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, September 27th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price target on Accenture from $377.00 to $389.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, September 27th. StockNews.com upgraded Accenture from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, September 27th. Finally, UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of Accenture from $400.00 to $415.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, September 27th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Accenture currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $371.18.

Accenture 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.