Stevens Capital Management LP Acquires 4,366 Shares of Accenture plc (NYSE:ACN)

Stevens Capital Management LP boosted its holdings in shares of Accenture plc (NYSE:ACN - Free Report) by 117.1% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 8,096 shares of the information technology services provider's stock after buying an additional 4,366 shares during the period. Stevens Capital Management LP's holdings in Accenture were worth $2,862,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Schrum Private Wealth Management LLC raised its position in Accenture by 78.6% during the third quarter. Schrum Private Wealth Management LLC now owns 11,448 shares of the information technology services provider's stock valued at $4,047,000 after purchasing an additional 5,038 shares in the last quarter. MQS Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Accenture during the 3rd quarter valued at about $1,040,000. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC lifted its position in Accenture by 70.6% in the 3rd quarter. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC now owns 35,591 shares of the information technology services provider's stock worth $12,581,000 after buying an additional 14,724 shares during the last quarter. M&G PLC grew its position in Accenture by 34.1% during the third quarter. M&G PLC now owns 292,808 shares of the information technology services provider's stock valued at $103,361,000 after acquiring an additional 74,438 shares during the last quarter. Finally, BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp raised its stake in shares of Accenture by 18.7% during the second quarter. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp now owns 172,199 shares of the information technology services provider's stock worth $52,247,000 after acquiring an additional 27,168 shares in the last quarter. 75.14% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other Accenture news, CEO Ryoji Sekido sold 3,191 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 6 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,062.20. This represents a 99.81 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Julie Spellman Sweet sold 8,136 shares of Accenture stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $362.07, for a total transaction of $2,945,801.52. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 12,188 shares of the company's stock, valued at $4,412,909.16. This represents a 40.03 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. 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 90 days. 0.07% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Accenture Trading Down 0.5 %

ACN traded down $1.90 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $358.13. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,676,589 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,698,000. The stock's 50-day moving average is $359.83 and its 200-day moving average is $332.08. Accenture plc has a 1 year low of $278.69 and a 1 year high of $387.51. The firm has a market capitalization of $223.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.38, a PEG ratio of 3.13 and a beta of 1.24.

Accenture (NYSE:ACN - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, September 26th. The information technology services provider reported $2.79 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 business had revenue of $16.41 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $16.37 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $2.71 earnings per share. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 2.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Accenture plc will post 12.76 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Accenture announced 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 reacquire up to 1.8% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are usually an indication that the company's board believes its shares are undervalued.

Accenture Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, October 10th were paid a $1.48 dividend. This represents a $5.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.65%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, October 10th. This is an increase from Accenture's previous quarterly dividend of $1.29. Accenture's dividend payout ratio is currently 51.79%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently commented on ACN. BNP Paribas lowered shares of Accenture from an "outperform" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $375.00 target price on the stock. in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Susquehanna lifted their price objective on Accenture from $350.00 to $360.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, September 27th. Mizuho increased their target price on Accenture from $352.00 to $365.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, September 18th. Barclays lifted their price target on Accenture from $350.00 to $415.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, September 30th. Finally, TD Cowen raised shares of Accenture from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $321.00 to $400.00 in a research note on Monday, September 30th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average 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.