Accenture (NYSE:ACN) Shares Up 0.7% - Here's What Happened

Accenture plc (NYSE:ACN - Get Free Report) rose 0.7% on Wednesday . The stock traded as high as $366.59 and last traded at $365.52. Approximately 378,305 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 86% from the average daily volume of 2,682,588 shares. The stock had previously closed at $362.90.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

ACN has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Piper Sandler upgraded Accenture from a "neutral" rating to an "overweight" rating and increased their target price for the stock from $329.00 to $395.00 in a research report on Thursday, September 26th. Susquehanna increased their target price on Accenture from $350.00 to $360.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, September 27th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on Accenture from $376.00 to $370.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, September 24th. TD Cowen upgraded Accenture from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and increased their target price for the stock from $321.00 to $400.00 in a research report on Monday, September 30th. Finally, UBS Group increased their target price on Accenture from $400.00 to $415.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, September 27th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $372.09.

Accenture Stock Performance

The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $360.48 and a 200-day simple moving average of $333.86. The company has a market capitalization of $228.38 billion, a PE ratio of 31.98, a P/E/G ratio of 3.22 and a beta of 1.24.

Accenture (NYSE:ACN - Get Free Report) last posted 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. Accenture had a return on equity of 26.83% and a net margin of 11.20%. The company had revenue of $16.41 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $16.37 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.71 EPS. Accenture's revenue for the quarter was up 2.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Accenture plc will post 12.76 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Accenture Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, October 10th were given a $1.48 dividend. This is a positive change from Accenture's previous quarterly dividend of $1.29. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, October 10th. This represents a $5.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.62%. Accenture's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 51.79%.

Accenture declared that its Board of Directors has approved a stock repurchase program on Thursday, September 26th that permits the company to repurchase $4.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the information technology services provider to buy up to 1.8% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are often an indication that the company's management believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Transactions at Accenture

In related news, CFO Kathleen R. Mcclure sold 5,090 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, October 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $373.22, for a total transaction of $1,899,689.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 38,825 shares in the company, valued at $14,490,266.50. The trade was a 11.59 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Ryoji Sekido sold 3,191 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Monday, November 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $343.70, for a total value of $1,096,746.70. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 6 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,062.20. This trade represents a 99.81 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 36,298 shares of company stock worth $13,372,661. 0.07% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in ACN. Morse Asset Management Inc bought a new stake in shares of Accenture in the 3rd quarter worth $25,000. Unique Wealth Strategies LLC bought a new stake in shares of Accenture in the 2nd quarter worth $26,000. MidAtlantic Capital Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Accenture in the 3rd quarter worth $30,000. Mowery & Schoenfeld Wealth Management LLC raised its position in shares of Accenture by 607.1% during the third quarter. Mowery & Schoenfeld Wealth Management LLC now owns 99 shares of the information technology services provider's stock worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 85 shares during the period. Finally, RPg Family Wealth Advisory LLC purchased a new position in shares of Accenture during the third quarter valued at $39,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.14% of the company's stock.

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.

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