Pines Wealth Management LLC Buys Shares of 1,079 Accenture plc (NYSE:ACN)

Pines Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Accenture plc (NYSE:ACN - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund purchased 1,079 shares of the information technology services provider's stock, valued at approximately $377,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of ACN. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC increased its position in shares of Accenture by 378.9% during the 3rd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 5,491,736 shares of the information technology services provider's stock worth $1,941,219,000 after purchasing an additional 4,345,039 shares during the last quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC increased its position in shares of Accenture by 44.7% during the second quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 2,709,989 shares of the information technology services provider's stock valued at $822,238,000 after acquiring an additional 837,677 shares during the last quarter. 1832 Asset Management L.P. raised its stake in shares of Accenture by 251.3% in the 2nd quarter. 1832 Asset Management L.P. now owns 995,896 shares of the information technology services provider's stock valued at $302,165,000 after acquiring an additional 712,400 shares during the period. Holocene Advisors LP acquired a new position in shares of Accenture in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $204,895,000. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Accenture by 37,788.5% during the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 510,358 shares of the information technology services provider's stock worth $180,401,000 after purchasing an additional 509,011 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.14% of the company's stock.

Accenture Stock Performance

NYSE:ACN traded up $2.67 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $350.92. 1,330,057 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,470,898. The company has a quick ratio of 1.47, a current ratio of 1.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17. The stock has a market capitalization of $219.60 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.44, a P/E/G ratio of 3.11 and a beta of 1.24. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $357.98 and a 200-day simple moving average of $344.94. Accenture plc has a 1 year low of $278.69 and a 1 year high of $387.51.

Accenture (NYSE:ACN - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, December 19th. The information technology services provider reported $3.59 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.43 by $0.16. Accenture had a net margin of 11.41% and a return on equity of 26.91%. The company had revenue of $17.69 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $17.15 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $3.27 EPS. Accenture's revenue for the quarter was up 9.0% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts anticipate that Accenture plc will post 12.69 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Accenture announced that its board has approved a stock 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 repurchase up to 1.8% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are generally a sign that the company's leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Accenture Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 14th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, January 16th will be paid a $1.48 dividend. This represents a $5.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.69%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, January 16th. Accenture's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 49.66%.

Insider Activity

In other Accenture news, insider Angela Beatty sold 375 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $358.50, for a total transaction of $134,437.50. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 5,149 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,845,916.50. This represents a 6.79 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Julie Spellman Sweet sold 9,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $376.16, for a total transaction of $3,385,440.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 20,324 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $7,645,075.84. This trade represents a 30.69 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 26,125 shares of company stock valued at $9,570,260 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.02% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have commented on ACN. Bank of America upped their price target on Accenture from $365.00 to $388.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, September 27th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their target price on Accenture from $355.00 to $385.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, December 20th. BNP Paribas lowered shares of Accenture from an "outperform" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $375.00 price target on the stock. in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Piper Sandler Companies restated a "neutral" rating and issued a $329.00 price objective on shares of Accenture in a report on Friday, September 20th. Finally, Robert W. Baird reiterated a "neutral" rating and set a $370.00 target price on shares of Accenture in a report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $385.04.

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.