Accenture plc (NYSE:ACN) Sees Large Decline in Short Interest

Accenture plc (NYSE:ACN - Get Free Report) was the target of a large decrease in short interest in October. As of October 31st, there was short interest totalling 5,760,000 shares, a decrease of 6.9% from the October 15th total of 6,190,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 2,270,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 2.5 days. Currently, 0.9% of the shares of the stock are short sold.

Accenture Stock Performance

ACN stock traded down $0.78 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $352.79. The stock had a trading volume of 1,759,897 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,726,316. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $355.55 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $327.46. The stock has a market cap of $220.55 billion, a PE ratio of 30.93, a P/E/G ratio of 3.09 and a beta of 1.25. Accenture has a 52-week low of $278.69 and a 52-week high of $387.51.

Accenture (NYSE:ACN - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results 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. The company had revenue of $16.41 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.37 billion. Accenture had a net margin of 11.20% and a return on equity of 26.83%. Accenture's revenue for the quarter was up 2.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $2.71 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Accenture will post 12.77 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Accenture declared that its board has authorized a stock 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 repurchase up to 1.8% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are often an indication that the company's board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Accenture Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, October 10th were issued a $1.48 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, October 10th. 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 yield of 1.68%. Accenture's payout ratio is presently 51.79%.

Insider Transactions at Accenture

In related news, CAO Melissa A. Burgum sold 458 shares of Accenture stock in a transaction dated Thursday, October 17th. The stock was 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 in the company, valued at approximately $3,649,265.25. This trade represents a 4.47 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Angela Beatty sold 673 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $372.18, for a total value of $250,477.14. Following the sale, the insider now owns 5,650 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,102,817. This trade represents a 10.64 % 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 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.07% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Accenture

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board grew its position in shares of Accenture by 19.1% during the 1st quarter. Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board now owns 2,097 shares of the information technology services provider's stock valued at $727,000 after acquiring an additional 336 shares during the period. Hillsdale Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Accenture by 55.0% during the 1st quarter. Hillsdale Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,352 shares of the information technology services provider's stock worth $469,000 after buying an additional 480 shares during the period. Trustmark National Bank Trust Department purchased a new position in shares of Accenture during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $275,000. Delta Asset Management LLC TN grew its stake in Accenture by 0.3% in the 1st quarter. Delta Asset Management LLC TN now owns 38,742 shares of the information technology services provider's stock valued at $13,428,000 after acquiring an additional 135 shares during the period. Finally, Atlanta Consulting Group Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Accenture during the first quarter worth $243,000. 75.14% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

ACN has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Piper Sandler Companies reiterated a "neutral" rating and issued a $329.00 price target on shares of Accenture in a report on Friday, September 20th. Susquehanna increased their target price on Accenture from $350.00 to $360.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, September 27th. Bank of America upped their price target on shares of Accenture from $365.00 to $388.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, September 27th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on shares of Accenture from $376.00 to $370.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, September 24th. Finally, BNP Paribas lowered Accenture from an "outperform" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $375.00 price target for the company. in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price 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.