Cvfg LLC Invests $954,000 in Accenture plc (NYSE:ACN)

Cvfg LLC bought a new position in shares of Accenture plc (NYSE:ACN - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund bought 2,713 shares of the information technology services provider's stock, valued at approximately $954,000. Accenture comprises about 0.9% of Cvfg LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 29th biggest holding.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Schrum Private Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Accenture by 78.6% in the third quarter. Schrum Private Wealth Management LLC now owns 11,448 shares of the information technology services provider's stock worth $4,047,000 after acquiring an additional 5,038 shares during the period. MQS Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Accenture in the 3rd quarter valued at $1,040,000. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Accenture by 70.6% during the third quarter. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC now owns 35,591 shares of the information technology services provider's stock worth $12,581,000 after buying an additional 14,724 shares during the period. M&G PLC lifted its holdings in Accenture by 34.1% in the third quarter. M&G PLC now owns 292,808 shares of the information technology services provider's stock valued at $103,361,000 after buying an additional 74,438 shares during the period. Finally, BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp boosted its position in Accenture by 18.7% during the second 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 acquiring an additional 27,168 shares during the last quarter. 75.14% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Accenture Stock Performance

ACN traded up $1.77 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $352.33. The company had a trading volume of 4,061,199 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,629,327. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $357.65 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $345.02. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17, a quick ratio of 1.47 and a current ratio of 1.47. Accenture plc has a 12-month low of $278.69 and a 12-month high of $387.51. The stock has a market cap of $220.48 billion, a PE ratio of 29.56, a P/E/G ratio of 3.11 and a beta of 1.24.

Accenture (NYSE:ACN - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, December 19th. The information technology services provider reported $3.59 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.43 by $0.16. Accenture had a return on equity of 26.91% and a net margin of 11.41%. The business had revenue of $17.69 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $17.15 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $3.27 earnings per share. Accenture's revenue was up 9.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Accenture plc will post 12.69 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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

Accenture Announces Dividend

The firm 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 1.68%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, January 16th. Accenture's payout ratio is currently 49.66%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Angela Beatty sold 375 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $358.50, for a total value of $134,437.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 5,149 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,845,916.50. This trade represents a 6.79 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, General Counsel Joel Unruch sold 4,750 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $369.97, for a total transaction of $1,757,357.50. Following the sale, the general counsel now directly owns 22,976 shares in the company, valued at $8,500,430.72. This trade represents a 17.13 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 26,125 shares of company stock worth $9,570,260 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.02% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Guggenheim boosted their price objective on Accenture from $380.00 to $395.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, September 27th. Piper Sandler Companies reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and set a $329.00 price objective on shares of Accenture in a research report on Friday, September 20th. BNP Paribas downgraded shares of Accenture from an "outperform" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $375.00 target price on the stock. in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Robert W. Baird reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and issued a $370.00 price target on shares of Accenture in a research note on Tuesday, December 3rd. Finally, Susquehanna increased their price objective on shares of Accenture from $350.00 to $360.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, September 27th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have given a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $385.04.

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.