Braun Bostich & Associates Inc. Sells 85 Shares of Accenture plc (NYSE:ACN)

Braun Bostich & Associates Inc. cut its position in Accenture plc (NYSE:ACN) by 10.5% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 728 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock after selling 85 shares during the quarter. Braun Bostich & Associates Inc.’s holdings in Accenture were worth $256,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Morse Asset Management Inc bought a new position in Accenture during the third quarter worth about $25,000. MidAtlantic Capital Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Accenture in the third quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC bought a new stake in shares of Accenture during the 4th quarter valued at $34,000. Mowery & Schoenfeld Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in 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 worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 85 shares during the period. Finally, RPg Family Wealth Advisory LLC bought a new stake in shares of Accenture during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $39,000. 75.14% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Accenture Stock Up 1.1 %

Accenture stock opened at $356.31 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17, a quick ratio of 1.47 and a current ratio of 1.47. The stock has a market cap of $222.98 billion, a PE ratio of 29.89, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.14 and a beta of 1.24. Accenture plc has a fifty-two week low of $278.69 and a fifty-two week high of $387.51. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $357.49 and its 200 day simple moving average is $346.26.

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

Accenture declared that its board has authorized a share repurchase plan on Thursday, September 26th that allows the company to repurchase $4.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the information technology services provider to purchase up to 1.8% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are generally a sign that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Accenture Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 14th. Investors of record on Thursday, January 16th will be given a dividend of $1.48 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, January 16th. This represents a $5.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.66%. Accenture’s payout ratio is currently 49.66%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Accenture news, CEO Julie Spellman Sweet sold 8,136 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, October 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $362.07, for a total value of $2,945,801.52. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 12,188 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,412,909.16. This trade represents a 40.03 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, insider Angela Beatty sold 961 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, January 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $354.47, for a total value of $340,645.67. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 5,484 shares in the company, valued at $1,943,913.48. This represents a 14.91 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 15,845 shares of company stock worth $5,645,518. Insiders own 0.02% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have issued reports on the company. TD Cowen upgraded Accenture from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $321.00 to $400.00 in a research report on Monday, September 30th. Barclays upped their target price on Accenture from $350.00 to $415.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, September 30th. Susquehanna raised their price objective on shares of Accenture from $350.00 to $360.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, September 27th. Guggenheim boosted their target price on shares of Accenture from $380.00 to $395.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, September 27th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group raised shares of Accenture from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price target for the company from $370.00 to $420.00 in a research note on Friday, December 6th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Accenture currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $383.74.

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.