Accenture plc (NYSE:ACN) Shares Acquired by Avity Investment Management Inc.

Avity Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in Accenture plc (NYSE:ACN - Free Report) by 2.6% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 124,469 shares of the information technology services provider's stock after buying an additional 3,131 shares during the period. Accenture makes up about 3.4% of Avity Investment Management Inc.'s holdings, making the stock its 9th biggest position. Avity Investment Management Inc.'s holdings in Accenture were worth $43,787,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC boosted its stake in shares of Accenture by 378.9% in the third 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 valued at $1,941,219,000 after buying an additional 4,345,039 shares in the last quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC lifted its holdings in Accenture by 44.7% in 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 period. 1832 Asset Management L.P. grew its stake in shares of Accenture by 251.3% during the 2nd 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. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its holdings in shares of Accenture by 2,666.5% in the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 715,219 shares of the information technology services provider's stock valued at $251,607,000 after purchasing an additional 689,366 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Holocene Advisors LP purchased a new stake in Accenture during the third quarter worth about $204,895,000. 75.14% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have issued reports on ACN shares. Susquehanna increased their target price on shares of Accenture from $350.00 to $360.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, September 27th. Piper Sandler raised their price objective on Accenture from $422.00 to $429.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. Robert W. Baird reiterated a "neutral" rating and set a $370.00 target price on shares of Accenture in a research report on Tuesday, December 3rd. BNP Paribas cut Accenture from an "outperform" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $375.00 price target for the company. in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of Accenture from $370.00 to $396.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, December 16th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $385.04.

Accenture Price Performance

ACN stock traded up $2.52 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $351.51. 1,220,858 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,451,405. The firm has a market capitalization of $219.97 billion, a PE ratio of 30.75, a P/E/G ratio of 3.23 and a beta of 1.24. The business's 50 day moving average price is $357.98 and its 200-day moving average price is $344.94. Accenture plc has a 52-week low of $278.69 and a 52-week high of $387.51.

Accenture (NYSE:ACN - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, December 19th. The information technology services provider reported $3.59 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $3.43 by $0.16. Accenture had a net margin of 11.20% and a return on equity of 26.83%. The firm had revenue of $17.69 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $17.15 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $3.27 EPS. The company's revenue was up 9.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts predict that Accenture plc will post 12.74 earnings per share for the current year.

Accenture Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 14th. Investors of record on Thursday, January 16th will be given a dividend of $1.48 per share. This represents a $5.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.68%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, January 16th. Accenture's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 49.66%.

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Angela Beatty sold 375 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $358.50, for a total transaction of $134,437.50. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 5,149 shares in the company, valued at $1,845,916.50. This trade represents a 6.79 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, General Counsel Joel Unruch sold 4,750 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $369.97, for a total value of $1,757,357.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the general counsel now owns 22,976 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,500,430.72. This trade represents a 17.13 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 36,673 shares of company stock worth $13,507,099 in the last 90 days. 0.02% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

About Accenture

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.