Accenture plc (NYSE:ACN) Shares Sold by First National Trust Co

First National Trust Co decreased its holdings in shares of Accenture plc (NYSE:ACN) by 6.5% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 17,846 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock after selling 1,243 shares during the period. First National Trust Co’s holdings in Accenture were worth $6,308,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Unique Wealth Strategies LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Accenture during the 2nd quarter worth about $26,000. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Accenture during the 2nd quarter worth about $28,000. Mowery & Schoenfeld Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in Accenture by 607.1% in the third quarter. Mowery & Schoenfeld Wealth Management LLC now owns 99 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 85 shares in the last quarter. Creekmur Asset Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Accenture by 108.0% during the 1st quarter. Creekmur Asset Management LLC now owns 104 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $36,000 after buying an additional 54 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Tsfg LLC grew its position in shares of Accenture by 31.1% in the 2nd quarter. Tsfg LLC now owns 135 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $41,000 after buying an additional 32 shares during the last quarter. 75.14% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CFO Kathleen R. Mcclure sold 5,090 shares of Accenture stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, October 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $373.22, for a total value of $1,899,689.80. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 38,825 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $14,490,266.50. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. In related news, CEO Ryoji Sekido sold 3,191 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $343.70, for a total transaction of $1,096,746.70. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 6 shares in the company, valued at $2,062.20. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CFO Kathleen R. Mcclure sold 5,090 shares of Accenture stock in a transaction dated Thursday, October 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $373.22, for a total value of $1,899,689.80. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 38,825 shares in the company, valued at approximately $14,490,266.50. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 36,298 shares of company stock valued at $13,372,661 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.07% of the company’s stock.

Accenture Stock Up 0.5 %

NYSE:ACN opened at $357.30 on Tuesday. The business’s 50 day moving average is $353.95 and its two-hundred day moving average is $325.80. Accenture plc has a 52 week low of $278.69 and a 52 week high of $387.51. The company has a market cap of $223.37 billion, a PE ratio of 31.26, a P/E/G ratio of 3.11 and a beta of 1.25.

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 11.20% and a return on equity of 26.83%. 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. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Accenture plc will post 12.77 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Accenture declared that its board has initiated a stock repurchase program on Thursday, September 26th that authorizes the company to buyback $4.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the information technology services provider to repurchase up to 1.8% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are usually 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. Shareholders 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 1.66%. This is an increase from Accenture’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.29. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, October 10th. Accenture’s payout ratio is 51.79%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ACN has been the subject of several research reports. Piper Sandler raised Accenture from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $329.00 to $395.00 in a report on Thursday, September 26th. Robert W. Baird increased their price objective on Accenture from $350.00 to $370.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, September 27th. Guggenheim increased their price target on shares of Accenture from $380.00 to $395.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, September 27th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price on shares of Accenture from $377.00 to $389.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, September 27th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on Accenture from $376.00 to $370.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, September 24th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Accenture has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $368.23.

Accenture Company 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.