KBC Group NV Sells 206,746 Shares of Accenture plc (NYSE:ACN)

KBC Group NV reduced its stake in Accenture plc (NYSE:ACN - Free Report) by 23.1% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 687,481 shares of the information technology services provider's stock after selling 206,746 shares during the period. Accenture accounts for 0.7% of KBC Group NV's portfolio, making the stock its 18th largest position. KBC Group NV owned approximately 0.11% of Accenture worth $243,011,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

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

Insider Activity at Accenture

In related news, CAO Melissa A. Burgum sold 458 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $373.25, for a total value of $170,948.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 9,777 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,649,265.25. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In related news, CEO Ryoji Sekido sold 3,191 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, November 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $343.70, for a total transaction of $1,096,746.70. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 6 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,062.20. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Melissa A. Burgum sold 458 shares of Accenture stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $373.25, for a total transaction of $170,948.50. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 9,777 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,649,265.25. This represents a 0.00 % 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 worth $13,372,661. 0.07% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Accenture Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:ACN traded down $6.70 during trading on Thursday, hitting $363.52. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,995,287 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,719,802. The firm has a market cap of $227.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.40, a P/E/G ratio of 3.15 and a beta of 1.25. The company has a 50-day moving average of $354.85 and a 200-day moving average of $326.48. 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 issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, September 26th. The information technology services provider reported $2.79 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.78 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $16.41 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $16.37 billion. Accenture had a net margin of 11.20% and a return on equity of 26.83%. The company's revenue was up 2.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $2.71 EPS. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Accenture plc will post 12.77 earnings per share for the current year.

Accenture declared that its board has approved a share repurchase plan on Thursday, September 26th that permits the company to buyback $4.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the information technology services provider to purchase up to 1.8% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are often a sign that the company's board believes its shares are undervalued.

Accenture Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, October 10th will be paid a $1.48 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, October 10th. This represents a $5.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.63%. This is an increase from Accenture's previous quarterly dividend of $1.29. Accenture's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 51.79%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ACN has been the subject of several recent research reports. Citigroup lifted their target price on shares of Accenture from $350.00 to $405.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, September 17th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on Accenture from $376.00 to $370.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, September 24th. BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on Accenture from $380.00 to $390.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a report on Friday, September 27th. TD Cowen upgraded shares of Accenture from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and upped their price target for the stock from $321.00 to $400.00 in a research note on Monday, September 30th. Finally, Piper Sandler upgraded shares of Accenture from a "neutral" rating to an "overweight" rating and raised their price objective for the company from $329.00 to $395.00 in a research note on Thursday, September 26th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Accenture has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $368.23.

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.