True North Advisors LLC Raises Stake in Accenture plc (NYSE:ACN)

True North Advisors LLC grew its position in Accenture plc (NYSE:ACN) by 6.3% during the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 3,094 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 184 shares during the quarter. True North Advisors LLC’s holdings in Accenture were worth $1,094,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of ACN. Gill Capital Partners LLC purchased a new stake in Accenture during the 3rd quarter worth about $230,000. Hoxton Planning & Management LLC raised its position in shares of Accenture by 37.6% during the 3rd quarter. Hoxton Planning & Management LLC now owns 1,871 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $661,000 after acquiring an additional 511 shares in the last quarter. Marquette Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in Accenture during the third quarter worth approximately $297,000. Cape ANN Savings Bank increased its stake in Accenture by 1.3% in the third quarter. Cape ANN Savings Bank now owns 4,038 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $1,427,000 after purchasing an additional 50 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Artemis Investment Management LLP acquired a new stake in Accenture during the third quarter worth approximately $2,691,000. 75.14% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Accenture

In related news, insider Ellyn Shook sold 5,000 shares of Accenture 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 transaction, the insider now directly owns 8,989 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,964,751.98. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In other news, CFO Kathleen R. Mcclure sold 3,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $309.22, for a total transaction of $927,660.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 40,070 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $12,390,445.40. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Ellyn Shook sold 5,000 shares of the company’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 sale, the insider now directly owns 8,989 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,964,751.98. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 21,421 shares of company stock valued at $6,912,635 in the last quarter. 0.07% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts recently commented on ACN shares. Piper Sandler raised shares of Accenture from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their target price for the company from $329.00 to $395.00 in a research report on Thursday, September 26th. Citigroup raised their price objective on Accenture from $350.00 to $405.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 17th. UBS Group boosted their target price on Accenture from $400.00 to $415.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, September 27th. Barclays raised their price target on Accenture from $350.00 to $415.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, September 30th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on Accenture from $377.00 to $389.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, September 27th. 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 company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $371.18.

Accenture Price Performance

ACN opened at $359.05 on Wednesday. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $337.87 and a 200-day simple moving average of $319.95. Accenture plc has a 12 month low of $278.69 and a 12 month high of $387.51. The stock has a market capitalization of $225.01 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.00, a P/E/G ratio of 3.69 and a beta of 1.25.

Accenture (NYSE:ACN) last released its 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. The company had revenue of $16.41 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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 quarter last year, the company earned $2.71 earnings per share. Research analysts anticipate that Accenture plc will post 11.95 EPS for the current year.

Accenture announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock buyback 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 repurchase up to 1.8% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are usually a sign that the company’s leadership believes its shares are 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 given a dividend of $1.48 per share. This represents a $5.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.65%. This is an increase from Accenture’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.29. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, October 10th. Accenture’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.