Peak Asset Management LLC Has $2.32 Million Holdings in Accenture plc (NYSE:ACN)

Peak Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Accenture plc (NYSE:ACN - Free Report) by 60.0% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 6,573 shares of the information technology services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 2,465 shares during the quarter. Peak Asset Management LLC's holdings in Accenture were worth $2,323,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Schrum Private Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in Accenture by 78.6% in the 3rd quarter. Schrum Private Wealth Management LLC now owns 11,448 shares of the information technology services provider's stock valued at $4,047,000 after buying an additional 5,038 shares during the last quarter. MQS Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Accenture in the third quarter valued at approximately $1,040,000. M&G PLC lifted its holdings in Accenture by 34.1% during the 3rd quarter. M&G PLC now owns 292,808 shares of the information technology services provider's stock worth $103,361,000 after purchasing an additional 74,438 shares during the last quarter. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Accenture by 70.6% in the 3rd quarter. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC now owns 35,591 shares of the information technology services provider's stock valued at $12,581,000 after purchasing an additional 14,724 shares during the period. Finally, BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp grew its holdings in 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 in the last quarter. 75.14% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at Accenture

In other news, COO John F. Walsh sold 5,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, October 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $373.24, for a total value of $1,866,200.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 17,593 shares in the company, valued at $6,566,411.32. This trade represents a 22.13 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CFO Kathleen R. Mcclure sold 5,090 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 38,825 shares in the company, valued at approximately $14,490,266.50. The trade was a 11.59 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 36,298 shares of company stock worth $13,372,661 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.07% of the company's stock.

Accenture Stock Down 2.2 %

ACN traded down $8.12 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $362.10. 3,503,029 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,726,620. The firm has a market capitalization of $226.37 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.79, a P/E/G ratio of 3.15 and a beta of 1.25. The firm's 50 day moving average price is $354.85 and its 200-day moving average price is $326.48. 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 released its earnings results on Thursday, September 26th. The information technology services provider reported $2.79 earnings per share 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 business had revenue of $16.41 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $16.37 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $2.71 EPS. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 2.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Accenture plc will post 12.77 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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

Accenture Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, October 10th will be paid a $1.48 dividend. This represents a $5.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.63%. 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 currently 51.79%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

ACN has been the topic of several research reports. Piper Sandler upgraded shares of Accenture from a "neutral" rating to an "overweight" rating and upped their price target for the company from $329.00 to $395.00 in a research note on Thursday, September 26th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Accenture from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Robert W. Baird lifted their price target on shares of Accenture from $350.00 to $370.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, September 27th. TD Cowen upgraded Accenture from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $321.00 to $400.00 in a research note on Monday, September 30th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on Accenture from $380.00 to $390.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research report on Friday, September 27th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Accenture has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $368.23.

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.