Trust Co. of Vermont Has $27.35 Million Stock Holdings in Accenture plc (NYSE:ACN)

Trust Co. of Vermont increased its position in Accenture plc (NYSE:ACN) by 1.8% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 77,373 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock after buying an additional 1,352 shares during the period. Accenture accounts for approximately 1.4% of Trust Co. of Vermont’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 17th biggest holding. Trust Co. of Vermont’s holdings in Accenture were worth $27,350,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp grew its stake in shares of Accenture by 18.7% in the 2nd quarter. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp now owns 172,199 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $52,247,000 after buying an additional 27,168 shares during the period. New Mexico Educational Retirement Board lifted its position in Accenture by 11.9% in the 1st quarter. New Mexico Educational Retirement Board now owns 36,750 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $12,393,000 after acquiring an additional 3,900 shares in the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC lifted its position in Accenture by 13.3% in the 1st quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 183,446 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $63,584,000 after acquiring an additional 21,516 shares in the last quarter. M&G Plc bought a new position in Accenture in the 1st quarter valued at about $19,007,000. Finally, First Long Island Investors LLC lifted its position in Accenture by 27.8% in the 1st quarter. First Long Island Investors LLC now owns 65,717 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $22,778,000 after acquiring an additional 14,283 shares in the last quarter. 75.14% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In other news, General Counsel Joel Unruch sold 8,145 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $331.05, for a total value of $2,696,402.25. Following the completion of the sale, the general counsel now owns 22,849 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,564,161.45. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In related news, 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 $2,964,751.98. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, General Counsel Joel Unruch sold 8,145 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 owns 22,849 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,564,161.45. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.07% of the company’s stock.

Accenture Trading Up 0.8 %

Accenture stock opened at $375.30 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 $235.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.37, a P/E/G ratio of 3.47 and a beta of 1.25. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $344.26 and a 200 day simple moving average of $321.51.

Accenture (NYSE:ACN) last released its quarterly 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 firm had revenue of $16.41 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.37 billion. Accenture had a net margin of 11.20% and a return on equity of 26.83%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.71 EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Accenture plc will post 12.79 EPS for the current year.

Accenture declared that its board has authorized a share repurchase program on Thursday, September 26th that permits the company to buyback $4.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the information technology services provider to buy up to 1.8% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are often a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Accenture Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, October 10th will be paid a $1.48 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, October 10th. This is an increase from Accenture’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.29. This represents a $5.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.58%. Accenture’s payout ratio is currently 54.21%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Piper Sandler raised shares of Accenture from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their price target for the company from $329.00 to $395.00 in a research report on Thursday, September 26th. TD Cowen raised shares of Accenture from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price target for the company from $321.00 to $400.00 in a research report on Monday, September 30th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their target price on shares of Accenture from $377.00 to $389.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, September 27th. The Goldman Sachs Group began coverage on shares of Accenture in a research report on Monday, June 24th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $335.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Mizuho lifted their target price on shares of Accenture from $352.00 to $365.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 18th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Accenture has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average 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.