Accenture plc (NYSE:ACN) Shares Sold by Alpha Omega Wealth Management LLC

Alpha Omega Wealth Management LLC decreased its holdings in shares of Accenture plc (NYSE:ACN) by 0.9% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 5,844 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock after selling 52 shares during the quarter. Alpha Omega Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Accenture were worth $2,066,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in ACN. Unique Wealth Strategies LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Accenture in the second quarter worth about $26,000. Annapolis Financial Services LLC lifted its position in Accenture by 507.7% during the 1st quarter. Annapolis Financial Services LLC now owns 79 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $27,000 after acquiring an additional 66 shares in the last quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC purchased a new position in Accenture in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $28,000. Ables Iannone Moore & Associates Inc. acquired a new stake in Accenture in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Finally, Atwood & Palmer Inc. lifted its position in shares of Accenture by 214.8% during the first quarter. Atwood & Palmer Inc. now owns 85 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 58 shares in the last quarter. 75.14% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Accenture Price Performance

Shares of NYSE ACN opened at $361.37 on Friday. Accenture plc has a 1-year low of $278.69 and a 1-year high of $387.51. The firm has a market capitalization of $226.47 billion, a PE ratio of 33.09, a P/E/G ratio of 3.69 and a beta of 1.25. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $335.96 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $320.60.

Accenture (NYSE:ACN) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, September 26th. The information technology services provider reported $2.79 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.78 by $0.01. Accenture had a net margin of 10.79% and a return on equity of 27.48%. The firm had revenue of $16.41 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.37 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $2.71 EPS. Accenture’s revenue was up 2.6% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research 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 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 purchase up to 1.8% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are often a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Accenture Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced 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. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, October 10th. This represents a $5.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.64%. This is an increase from Accenture’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.29. Accenture’s payout ratio is presently 54.21%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Julie Spellman Sweet sold 3,776 shares of Accenture stock in a transaction dated 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 directly owns 11,819 shares in the company, valued at $3,652,661.95. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, insider Ellyn Shook sold 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 owns 8,989 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,964,751.98. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Julie Spellman Sweet sold 3,776 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $309.05, for a total transaction of $1,166,972.80. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 11,819 shares in the company, valued at $3,652,661.95. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 21,421 shares of company stock worth $6,912,635. 0.07% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on ACN shares. BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on shares of Accenture from $380.00 to $390.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, September 27th. Susquehanna lifted their target price on Accenture from $350.00 to $360.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, September 27th. The Goldman Sachs Group started coverage on Accenture in a research note on Monday, June 24th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $335.00 price objective for the company. Mizuho upped their target price on Accenture from $352.00 to $365.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 18th. Finally, TD Cowen upgraded Accenture from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their target price for the company from $321.00 to $400.00 in a research note on Monday. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $371.18.

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.