Accenture plc (NYSE:ACN) Shares Sold by Beacon Investment Advisory Services Inc.

Beacon Investment Advisory Services Inc. lessened its stake in Accenture plc (NYSE:ACN) by 7.9% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 2,691 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock after selling 230 shares during the period. Beacon Investment Advisory Services Inc.’s holdings in Accenture were worth $951,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Unique Wealth Strategies LLC purchased a new position in Accenture in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC purchased a new position in Accenture in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $28,000. MidAtlantic Capital Management Inc. purchased a new position in Accenture in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Mowery & Schoenfeld Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Accenture by 607.1% during the 3rd quarter. Mowery & Schoenfeld Wealth Management LLC now owns 99 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 85 shares during the last quarter. Finally, RPg Family Wealth Advisory LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Accenture during the 3rd quarter worth $39,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.14% of the company’s stock.

Accenture Stock Down 0.3 %

Shares of Accenture stock opened at $361.25 on Tuesday. Accenture plc has a 52-week low of $278.69 and a 52-week high of $387.51. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $358.68 and its 200-day simple moving average is $331.17. The firm has a market cap of $225.84 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.61, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.17 and a beta of 1.25.

Accenture (NYSE:ACN) last issued 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. Accenture had a net margin of 11.20% and a return on equity of 26.83%. The business had revenue of $16.41 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.37 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $2.71 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 2.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts anticipate that Accenture plc will post 12.77 EPS for the current year.

Accenture Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, October 10th were issued a dividend of $1.48 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, October 10th. This represents a $5.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.64%. This is an increase from Accenture’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.29. Accenture’s payout ratio is currently 51.79%.

Accenture declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock repurchase plan on Thursday, September 26th that permits the company to buyback $4.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the information technology services provider to reacquire up to 1.8% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are typically a sign that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Citigroup lifted their price objective on shares of Accenture from $350.00 to $405.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 17th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased 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. Guggenheim lifted their price objective on shares of Accenture from $380.00 to $395.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, September 27th. Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of Accenture from $350.00 to $415.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, September 30th. Finally, Piper Sandler raised shares of Accenture from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $329.00 to $395.00 in a research report on Thursday, September 26th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $368.23.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Accenture news, CAO Melissa A. Burgum sold 458 shares of the company’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 owns 9,777 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,649,265.25. This represents a 4.47 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Julie Spellman Sweet sold 9,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 directly owns 20,324 shares in the company, valued at $7,645,075.84. The trade was a 30.69 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 36,298 shares of company stock valued at $13,372,661. Corporate insiders own 0.07% of the company’s stock.

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.