Curi RMB Capital LLC boosted its stake in Accenture plc (NYSE:ACN - Free Report) by 13.7% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 71,497 shares of the information technology services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 8,619 shares during the period. Curi RMB Capital LLC's holdings in Accenture were worth $25,272,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.
A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Swedbank AB bought a new position in shares of Accenture during the 1st quarter worth approximately $820,912,000. Clearbridge Investments LLC boosted its stake in 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 worth $822,238,000 after acquiring an additional 837,677 shares in the last quarter. 1832 Asset Management L.P. grew its holdings in Accenture by 251.3% in the second quarter. 1832 Asset Management L.P. now owns 995,896 shares of the information technology services provider's stock worth $302,165,000 after purchasing an additional 712,400 shares during the period. Capital International Investors increased its stake in Accenture by 196.5% in the first quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 988,094 shares of the information technology services provider's stock valued at $342,483,000 after purchasing an additional 654,807 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Accenture by 1.1% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 59,718,732 shares of the information technology services provider's stock worth $20,699,110,000 after purchasing an additional 635,349 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.14% of the company's stock.
Accenture Trading Down 2.2 %
Shares of NYSE:ACN traded down $8.12 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $362.10. The company had a trading volume of 3,503,029 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,726,620. Accenture plc has a one year low of $278.69 and a one year high of $387.51. The company's 50-day moving average price is $354.85 and its 200-day moving average price is $326.48. The firm has a market cap of $226.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.79, a PEG ratio of 3.15 and a beta of 1.25.
Accenture (NYSE:ACN - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, September 26th. The information technology services provider reported $2.79 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.78 by $0.01. Accenture had a return on equity of 26.83% and a net margin of 11.20%. The firm had revenue of $16.41 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $16.37 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.71 EPS. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 2.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts anticipate that Accenture plc will post 12.77 EPS for the current fiscal year.
Accenture announced that its board has initiated a stock buyback 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 repurchase up to 1.8% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are generally a sign that the company's board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.
Accenture Increases Dividend
The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, October 10th will be paid a dividend of $1.48 per share. This is a boost from Accenture's previous quarterly dividend of $1.29. This represents a $5.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.63%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, October 10th. Accenture's dividend payout ratio is presently 51.79%.
Insider Buying and Selling
In other Accenture news, CEO Ryoji Sekido sold 3,191 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 6 shares in the company, valued at $2,062.20. This trade represents a 99.81 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Angela Beatty sold 673 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $372.18, for a total value of $250,477.14. Following the sale, the insider now owns 5,650 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,102,817. This represents a 10.64 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 36,298 shares of company stock valued at $13,372,661. Company insiders own 0.07% of the company's stock.
Wall Street Analyst Weigh In
A number of research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price target on Accenture from $377.00 to $389.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, September 27th. TD Cowen raised Accenture from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and upped their target price for the stock from $321.00 to $400.00 in a research report on Monday, September 30th. Bank of America boosted their price target on shares of Accenture from $365.00 to $388.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, September 27th. Guggenheim raised their price objective on shares of Accenture from $380.00 to $395.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, September 27th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on shares of Accenture from $376.00 to $370.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company 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 company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $368.23.
View Our Latest Stock Analysis on ACN
Accenture Company Profile
(
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.
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