Accenture (NYSE:ACN) Shares Up 0.2% – Still a Buy?

Accenture plc (NYSE:ACN) was up 0.2% on Wednesday . The company traded as high as $365.67 and last traded at $363.75. Approximately 370,454 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 86% from the average daily volume of 2,704,836 shares. The stock had previously closed at $363.18.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently commented on ACN. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price target on Accenture from $377.00 to $389.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, September 27th. Bank of America boosted 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. TD Cowen raised shares of 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 research report on Monday, September 30th. Guggenheim increased their target price on shares of Accenture from $380.00 to $395.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, September 27th. Finally, Susquehanna lifted their price target on shares of Accenture from $350.00 to $360.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, September 27th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $368.23.

Accenture Price Performance

The stock’s 50 day moving average is $357.09 and its 200-day moving average is $330.01. The company has a market capitalization of $226.06 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.82, a P/E/G ratio of 3.16 and a beta of 1.25.

Accenture (NYSE:ACN) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, September 26th. The information technology services provider reported $2.79 earnings per share 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 company had revenue of $16.41 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.37 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.71 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Accenture plc will post 12.77 EPS for the current year.

Accenture Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, October 10th were paid a $1.48 dividend. This represents a $5.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.64%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, October 10th. This is a positive change from Accenture’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.29. Accenture’s dividend payout ratio is presently 51.79%.

Accenture declared that its board has approved 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 reacquire up to 1.8% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are generally a sign that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Activity at Accenture

In other news, COO John F. Walsh sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $373.24, for a total value of $1,866,200.00. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 17,593 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,566,411.32. This represents a 22.13 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Julie Spellman Sweet sold 9,000 shares of Accenture stock in a transaction on Monday, October 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $376.16, for a total value of $3,385,440.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 20,324 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,645,075.84. This trade represents a 30.69 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 36,298 shares of company stock valued at $13,372,661. Insiders own 0.07% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Accenture

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Morse Asset Management Inc purchased a new position in shares of Accenture in the 3rd quarter valued at about $25,000. Unique Wealth Strategies LLC acquired a new position in shares of Accenture during the 2nd quarter valued at about $26,000. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC purchased a new stake in Accenture in the second quarter valued at $28,000. MidAtlantic Capital Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Accenture in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $30,000. Finally, Mowery & Schoenfeld Wealth Management LLC grew 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 valued at $35,000 after acquiring an additional 85 shares in the last quarter. 75.14% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Accenture Company Profile

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.