PNC Financial Services Group Inc. boosted its stake in Accenture plc (NYSE:ACN - Free Report) by 1.5% during the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 933,391 shares of the information technology services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 13,509 shares during the quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. owned about 0.15% of Accenture worth $329,935,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).
Several other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of ACN. Unique Wealth Strategies LLC purchased a new position in Accenture in the second quarter worth $26,000. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC purchased a new position in shares of Accenture in the 2nd quarter worth about $28,000. MidAtlantic Capital Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Accenture during the 3rd quarter valued at about $30,000. Mowery & Schoenfeld Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in Accenture by 607.1% in the 3rd quarter. Mowery & Schoenfeld Wealth Management LLC now owns 99 shares of the information technology services provider's stock worth $35,000 after buying an additional 85 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Creekmur Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in Accenture by 108.0% in the first quarter. Creekmur Asset Management LLC now owns 104 shares of the information technology services provider's stock worth $36,000 after buying an additional 54 shares in the last quarter. 75.14% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.
Wall Street Analyst Weigh In
ACN has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Bank of America boosted their price objective on shares of Accenture from $365.00 to $388.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, September 27th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Accenture from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. TD Cowen upgraded Accenture from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $321.00 to $400.00 in a report on Monday, September 30th. Susquehanna increased their target price on Accenture from $350.00 to $360.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, September 27th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased 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. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $368.23.
Check Out Our Latest Research Report on Accenture
Insider Buying and Selling
In related news, CFO Kathleen R. Mcclure sold 5,090 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $373.22, for a total value of $1,899,689.80. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 38,825 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $14,490,266.50. This trade represents a 11.59 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CAO Melissa A. Burgum sold 458 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, October 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $373.25, for a total value of $170,948.50. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 9,777 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,649,265.25. This represents a 4.47 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 36,298 shares of company stock valued at $13,372,661 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.07% of the company's stock.
Accenture Trading Up 0.3 %
ACN stock traded up $1.06 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $353.85. The company's stock had a trading volume of 2,447,114 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,725,069. The company has a market cap of $221.21 billion, a PE ratio of 30.82, a P/E/G ratio of 3.09 and a beta of 1.25. The firm's 50-day moving average is $355.77 and its 200-day moving average is $327.83. 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 released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, September 26th. The information technology services provider reported $2.79 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $16.37 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.71 EPS. Accenture's revenue for the quarter was up 2.6% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts expect that Accenture plc will post 12.77 earnings per share for the current year.
Accenture Increases Dividend
The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, October 10th were paid a $1.48 dividend. This is an increase from Accenture's previous quarterly dividend of $1.29. This represents a $5.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.67%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, October 10th. Accenture's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 51.79%.
Accenture declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share 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 stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are often an indication that the company's management believes its stock is undervalued.
Accenture Profile
(
Free Report)
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.
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