Legacy Private Trust Co. Lowers Holdings in Accenture plc (NYSE:ACN)

Legacy Private Trust Co. trimmed its holdings in Accenture plc (NYSE:ACN) by 3.7% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 10,020 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock after selling 383 shares during the period. Legacy Private Trust Co.’s holdings in Accenture were worth $3,542,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Regal Investment Advisors LLC increased its stake in Accenture by 4.5% during the fourth quarter. Regal Investment Advisors LLC now owns 2,077 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $729,000 after acquiring an additional 90 shares during the last quarter. Cresset Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Accenture by 10.4% in the fourth quarter. Cresset Asset Management LLC now owns 66,553 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $23,354,000 after purchasing an additional 6,287 shares during the period. Bennett Associates Wealth Management purchased a new stake in Accenture during the fourth quarter worth $381,000. Vontobel Asset Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Accenture by 9.7% during the fourth quarter. Vontobel Asset Management Inc. now owns 88,949 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $30,214,000 after buying an additional 7,861 shares during the period. Finally, Symmetry Investments LP acquired a new position in shares of Accenture during the fourth quarter worth $432,000. 75.14% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Accenture Stock Up 0.5 %

ACN stock traded up $1.73 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $358.53. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 17,772 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,754,305. The firm has a market capitalization of $224.69 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.66, a PEG ratio of 3.69 and a beta of 1.25. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $336.64 and a 200-day simple moving average of $319.71. Accenture plc has a 52-week low of $278.69 and a 52-week high of $387.51.

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

Accenture Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed 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 is a boost from Accenture’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.29. This represents a $5.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.65%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, October 10th. Accenture’s payout ratio is 54.21%.

Accenture announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock repurchase plan 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 buy up to 1.8% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are typically a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on ACN. Guggenheim upped their price target on Accenture from $380.00 to $395.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, September 27th. Robert W. Baird upped their target price on Accenture from $350.00 to $370.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, September 27th. TD Cowen raised Accenture from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $321.00 to $400.00 in a research report on Monday, September 30th. StockNews.com raised Accenture from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, September 27th. Finally, Piper Sandler Companies reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $329.00 target price on shares of Accenture in a research note on Friday, September 20th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Accenture currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $371.18.

Insider Activity at Accenture

In related news, insider Ellyn Shook sold 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $2,964,751.98. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In other Accenture news, General Counsel Joel Unruch sold 8,145 shares of Accenture 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 transaction, the general counsel now directly owns 22,849 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,564,161.45. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Ellyn Shook sold 5,000 shares of the business’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 transaction, the insider now owns 8,989 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,964,751.98. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 21,421 shares of company stock valued at $6,912,635 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.07% of the company’s stock.

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.