Accenture plc (NYSE:ACN - Get Free Report) gapped up before the market opened on Thursday following a stronger than expected earnings report. The stock had previously closed at $347.61, but opened at $365.00. Accenture shares last traded at $369.88, with a volume of 1,292,143 shares traded.
The information technology services provider reported $3.59 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.43 by $0.16. The firm had revenue of $17.69 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $17.15 billion. Accenture had a return on equity of 26.83% and a net margin of 11.20%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 9.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $3.27 EPS.
Accenture Announces Dividend
The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 14th. Investors of record on Thursday, January 16th will be paid a dividend of $1.48 per share. This represents a $5.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.59%. Accenture's dividend payout ratio is presently 51.79%.
Accenture declared that its board has initiated a share buyback plan on Thursday, September 26th that allows the company to buyback $4.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the information technology services provider to buy up to 1.8% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are generally an indication that the company's leadership believes its shares are undervalued.
Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades
ACN has been the subject of several research reports. StockNews.com raised shares of Accenture from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, December 9th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised Accenture from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $370.00 to $420.00 in a research note on Friday, December 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on Accenture from $370.00 to $396.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday. Barclays increased their price target on Accenture from $350.00 to $415.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday, September 30th. Finally, Robert W. Baird reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and issued a $370.00 price objective on shares of Accenture in a research note on Tuesday, December 3rd. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $374.82.
Get Our Latest Stock Analysis on Accenture
Insider Activity at Accenture
In other Accenture news, COO John F. Walsh sold 5,000 shares of Accenture stock in a transaction dated Thursday, October 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $373.24, for a total transaction of $1,866,200.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 17,593 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $6,566,411.32. The trade was a 22.13 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Ryoji Sekido sold 3,191 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $343.70, for a total value of $1,096,746.70. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 6 shares in the company, valued at $2,062.20. This represents a 99.81 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 36,298 shares of company stock valued at $13,372,661 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.07% of the company's stock.
Institutional Investors Weigh In On Accenture
A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of ACN. Masso Torrence Wealth Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Accenture by 2.0% in the 3rd quarter. Masso Torrence Wealth Management Inc. now owns 1,447 shares of the information technology services provider's stock valued at $511,000 after purchasing an additional 28 shares during the last quarter. BSW Wealth Partners grew its position in Accenture by 0.7% in the 3rd quarter. BSW Wealth Partners now owns 4,077 shares of the information technology services provider's stock valued at $1,441,000 after buying an additional 28 shares during the last quarter. Slow Capital Inc. increased its stake in Accenture by 0.3% in the 3rd quarter. Slow Capital Inc. now owns 9,067 shares of the information technology services provider's stock valued at $3,205,000 after buying an additional 29 shares during the period. Tradition Wealth Management LLC raised its position in Accenture by 0.3% during the 3rd quarter. Tradition Wealth Management LLC now owns 10,951 shares of the information technology services provider's stock worth $3,871,000 after buying an additional 29 shares during the last quarter. Finally, NBC Securities Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Accenture by 0.6% in the 3rd quarter. NBC Securities Inc. now owns 5,206 shares of the information technology services provider's stock worth $1,840,000 after acquiring an additional 30 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.14% of the company's stock.
Accenture Stock Up 7.1 %
The firm has a market cap of $232.66 billion, a PE ratio of 32.56, a P/E/G ratio of 3.23 and a beta of 1.24. The company's fifty day moving average price is $360.36 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $336.56.
About Accenture
(
Get Free Report)
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.
Further Reading
Before you consider Accenture, you'll want to hear this.
MarketBeat keeps track of Wall Street's top-rated and best performing research analysts and the stocks they recommend to their clients on a daily basis. MarketBeat has identified the five stocks that top analysts are quietly whispering to their clients to buy now before the broader market catches on... and Accenture wasn't on the list.
While Accenture currently has a "Moderate Buy" rating among analysts, top-rated analysts believe these five stocks are better buys.
View The Five Stocks Here
Looking to avoid the hassle of mudslinging, volatility, and uncertainty? You'd need to be out of the market, which isn’t viable. So where should investors put their money? Find out with this report.
Get This Free Report
Like this article? Share it with a colleague.
Link copied to clipboard.
