Accenture plc (NYSE:ACN) Shares Sold by First Western Trust Bank

First Western Trust Bank lessened its position in Accenture plc (NYSE:ACN - Free Report) by 14.8% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 20,729 shares of the information technology services provider's stock after selling 3,587 shares during the quarter. Accenture comprises 0.3% of First Western Trust Bank's holdings, making the stock its 24th largest position. First Western Trust Bank's holdings in Accenture were worth $7,327,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in ACN. Masso Torrence Wealth Management Inc. grew its holdings in Accenture by 2.0% during the 3rd quarter. Masso Torrence Wealth Management Inc. now owns 1,447 shares of the information technology services provider's stock worth $511,000 after acquiring an additional 28 shares during the period. BSW Wealth Partners boosted its position in shares of Accenture by 0.7% during the third quarter. BSW Wealth Partners now owns 4,077 shares of the information technology services provider's stock worth $1,441,000 after purchasing an additional 28 shares in the last quarter. Slow Capital Inc. boosted its position in shares of Accenture by 0.3% during the third quarter. Slow Capital Inc. now owns 9,067 shares of the information technology services provider's stock worth $3,205,000 after purchasing an additional 29 shares in the last quarter. NBC Securities Inc. boosted its position in shares of Accenture by 0.6% during the third quarter. NBC Securities Inc. now owns 5,206 shares of the information technology services provider's stock worth $1,840,000 after purchasing an additional 30 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Conscious Wealth Investments LLC boosted its position in shares of Accenture by 0.4% during 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 in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.14% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity

In other Accenture news, insider Angela Beatty sold 673 shares of the business'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 completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 5,650 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,102,817. The trade was a 10.64 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Julie Spellman Sweet sold 9,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $376.16, for a total transaction of $3,385,440.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 20,324 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,645,075.84. This trade represents a 30.69 % 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 over the last quarter. Insiders own 0.07% of the company's stock.

Accenture Price Performance

Shares of ACN traded down $1.12 on Monday, reaching $352.45. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,001,173 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,722,914. The stock has a market capitalization of $220.34 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.93, a PEG ratio of 3.09 and a beta of 1.25. The stock's 50 day simple moving average is $355.55 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $327.46. Accenture plc has a 12-month low of $278.69 and a 12-month high of $387.51.

Accenture (NYSE:ACN - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, September 26th. The information technology services provider reported $2.79 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 company had revenue of $16.41 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $16.37 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $2.71 earnings per share. The firm's revenue was up 2.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts expect that Accenture plc will post 12.77 earnings per share for the current year.

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

Accenture Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, October 10th were given a dividend of $1.48 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, October 10th. This represents a $5.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.68%. This is a boost from Accenture's previous quarterly dividend of $1.29. Accenture's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 51.79%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on ACN shares. BNP Paribas cut shares of Accenture from an "outperform" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $375.00 price target on the stock. in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Accenture from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of Accenture from $400.00 to $415.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, September 27th. 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 note on Friday, September 27th. Finally, Guggenheim lifted their price target 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. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $368.23.

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.