Empowered Funds LLC Purchases 1,502 Shares of Accenture plc (NYSE:ACN)

Empowered Funds LLC grew its stake in shares of Accenture plc (NYSE:ACN - Free Report) by 6.9% during the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 23,389 shares of the information technology services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 1,502 shares during the period. Empowered Funds LLC's holdings in Accenture were worth $8,268,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Masso Torrence Wealth Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Accenture by 2.0% in the 3rd quarter. Masso Torrence Wealth Management Inc. now owns 1,447 shares of the information technology services provider's stock valued at $511,000 after purchasing an additional 28 shares during the period. BSW Wealth Partners lifted its position in Accenture by 0.7% during the third quarter. BSW Wealth Partners now owns 4,077 shares of the information technology services provider's stock valued at $1,441,000 after buying an additional 28 shares during the period. Slow Capital Inc. grew its position in shares of Accenture by 0.3% in the 3rd quarter. Slow Capital Inc. now owns 9,067 shares of the information technology services provider's stock worth $3,205,000 after buying an additional 29 shares during the period. NBC Securities Inc. increased its stake in shares of Accenture by 0.6% in the 3rd quarter. NBC Securities Inc. now owns 5,206 shares of the information technology services provider's stock worth $1,840,000 after acquiring an additional 30 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Conscious Wealth Investments LLC grew its holdings in Accenture by 0.4% in the third quarter. Conscious Wealth Investments LLC now owns 7,744 shares of the information technology services provider's stock worth $2,870,000 after purchasing an additional 31 shares during the period. 75.14% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Accenture Trading Down 2.3 %

ACN stock traded down $8.50 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $353.57. 3,624,539 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,730,625. The stock's 50-day moving average is $355.55 and its 200 day moving average is $327.08. The stock has a market cap of $221.04 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.93, a PEG ratio of 3.24 and a beta of 1.25. 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 announced its earnings results on Thursday, September 26th. The information technology services provider reported $2.79 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 company had revenue of $16.41 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $16.37 billion. During the same period last year, the firm 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 expect that Accenture plc will post 12.77 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Accenture Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, October 10th were paid a dividend of $1.48 per share. This is a boost from Accenture's previous quarterly dividend of $1.29. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, October 10th. This represents a $5.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.67%. Accenture's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 51.79%.

Accenture declared that its board has authorized a stock buyback 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 purchase up to 1.8% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are typically a sign that the company's board believes its stock is undervalued.

Analyst Ratings Changes

ACN has been the topic of several recent research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on Accenture from $376.00 to $370.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, September 24th. TD Cowen raised Accenture from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $321.00 to $400.00 in a research report on Monday, September 30th. Susquehanna increased their price objective on shares of Accenture from $350.00 to $360.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, September 27th. Mizuho upped their target price on shares of Accenture from $352.00 to $365.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 18th. Finally, Guggenheim raised their price target on shares of Accenture from $380.00 to $395.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, September 27th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Accenture currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $368.23.

Insider Buying and Selling at Accenture

In related news, CAO Melissa A. Burgum sold 458 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, October 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $373.25, for a total value of $170,948.50. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 9,777 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,649,265.25. The trade was a 4.47 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, COO John F. Walsh sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, October 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $373.24, for a total transaction of $1,866,200.00. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 17,593 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $6,566,411.32. This trade represents a 22.13 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 36,298 shares of company stock valued at $13,372,661 over the last 90 days. 0.07% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.