ZWJ Investment Counsel Inc. Has $30.67 Million Stock Position in Accenture plc (NYSE:ACN)

ZWJ Investment Counsel Inc. increased its position in Accenture plc (NYSE:ACN) by 1.1% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 87,177 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock after buying an additional 973 shares during the period. ZWJ Investment Counsel Inc.’s holdings in Accenture were worth $30,668,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Morse Asset Management Inc acquired a new position in shares of Accenture during the third quarter worth approximately $25,000. MidAtlantic Capital Management Inc. acquired a new position in Accenture during the third quarter worth $30,000. Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC bought a new position in shares of Accenture in the fourth quarter valued at $34,000. Mowery & Schoenfeld Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Accenture by 607.1% during the third quarter. Mowery & Schoenfeld Wealth Management LLC now owns 99 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $35,000 after buying an additional 85 shares during the last quarter. Finally, RPg Family Wealth Advisory LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Accenture in the 3rd quarter worth about $39,000. 75.14% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Accenture Stock Performance

NYSE ACN opened at $352.33 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $220.49 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.56, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.11 and a beta of 1.24. The company has a quick ratio of 1.47, a current ratio of 1.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17. The company’s 50 day moving average is $357.59 and its 200-day moving average is $345.93. Accenture plc has a 12-month low of $278.69 and a 12-month high of $387.51.

Accenture (NYSE:ACN) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, December 19th. The information technology services provider reported $3.59 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.43 by $0.16. The business had revenue of $17.69 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $17.15 billion. Accenture had a net margin of 11.41% and a return on equity of 26.91%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $3.27 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that Accenture plc will post 12.69 earnings per share for the current year.

Accenture announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock repurchase 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 repurchase up to 1.8% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are typically an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Accenture Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 14th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, January 16th will be given a dividend of $1.48 per share. This represents a $5.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.68%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, January 16th. Accenture’s dividend payout ratio is presently 49.66%.

Insider Transactions at Accenture

In related news, insider Angela Beatty sold 375 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, December 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $358.50, for a total value of $134,437.50. Following the sale, the insider now owns 5,149 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,845,916.50. This trade represents a 6.79 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Ryoji Sekido sold 3,191 shares of Accenture stock in a transaction on Monday, November 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $343.70, for a total value of $1,096,746.70. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 6 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,062.20. This represents a 99.81 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 16,452 shares of company stock valued at $5,934,343. 0.02% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ACN has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Susquehanna lifted their price target on Accenture from $350.00 to $360.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, September 27th. Bank of America upped their price target on Accenture from $365.00 to $388.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, September 27th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price objective on Accenture from $377.00 to $389.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, September 27th. UBS Group upped their target price on shares of Accenture from $450.00 to $455.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, December 20th. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of Accenture from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $385.04.

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.