First Pacific Financial Acquires 118 Shares of Accenture plc (NYSE:ACN)

First Pacific Financial increased its holdings in shares of Accenture plc (NYSE:ACN) by 3.1% in the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 3,952 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 118 shares during the period. First Pacific Financial’s holdings in Accenture were worth $1,397,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Cabot Wealth Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Accenture by 2.8% during the third quarter. Cabot Wealth Management Inc. now owns 31,363 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $11,086,000 after acquiring an additional 857 shares during the period. Trust Co. of Oklahoma raised its position in shares of Accenture by 1.5% in the third quarter. Trust Co. of Oklahoma now owns 12,955 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $4,579,000 after buying an additional 189 shares in the last quarter. Swedbank AB raised its position in shares of Accenture by 16.6% in the third quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 2,551,679 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $901,967,000 after buying an additional 363,401 shares in the last quarter. Birch Capital Management LLC raised its position in Accenture by 5.2% during the third quarter. Birch Capital Management LLC now owns 18,226 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $6,443,000 after purchasing an additional 900 shares in the last quarter. Finally, NBC Securities Inc. raised its position in Accenture by 0.6% during the third quarter. NBC Securities Inc. now owns 5,206 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $1,840,000 after purchasing an additional 30 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 75.14% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, General Counsel Joel Unruch sold 8,145 shares of Accenture stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $331.05, for a total value of $2,696,402.25. Following the sale, the general counsel now owns 22,849 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,564,161.45. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In related news, insider Ellyn Shook sold 5,000 shares of Accenture stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $329.82, for a total value of $1,649,100.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 8,989 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,964,751.98. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, General Counsel Joel Unruch sold 8,145 shares of Accenture stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $331.05, for a total transaction of $2,696,402.25. Following the completion of the sale, the general counsel now directly owns 22,849 shares in the company, valued at $7,564,161.45. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.07% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

ACN has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Mizuho upped their price target on shares of Accenture from $352.00 to $365.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 18th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Accenture from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, September 27th. Piper Sandler Companies reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $329.00 price target on shares of Accenture in a report on Friday, September 20th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on shares of Accenture from $376.00 to $370.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, September 24th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on shares of Accenture from $380.00 to $390.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, September 27th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $371.18.

Accenture Trading Up 1.1 %

NYSE ACN traded up $4.06 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $368.66. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 2,955,865 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,750,996. Accenture plc has a 52 week low of $278.69 and a 52 week high of $387.51. The company has a market capitalization of $231.04 billion, a PE ratio of 33.41, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.47 and a beta of 1.25. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $340.99 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $320.62.

Accenture (NYSE:ACN) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, September 26th. The information technology services provider reported $2.79 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.78 by $0.01. Accenture had a net margin of 11.20% and a return on equity of 26.83%. The firm had revenue of $16.41 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $16.37 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $2.71 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 2.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts anticipate that Accenture plc will post 12.79 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 Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, October 10th will be given a dividend of $1.48 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, October 10th. This represents a $5.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.61%. This is a boost from Accenture’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.29. Accenture’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 54.21%.

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.