Graypoint LLC Boosts Stake in Accenture plc (NYSE:ACN)

Graypoint LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Accenture plc (NYSE:ACN) by 5.4% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 9,567 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock after buying an additional 488 shares during the period. Graypoint LLC’s holdings in Accenture were worth $3,382,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Central Pacific Bank Trust Division purchased a new stake in Accenture in the first quarter worth approximately $89,000. Advisory Services Network LLC boosted its stake in shares of Accenture by 2.5% in the 1st quarter. Advisory Services Network LLC now owns 21,990 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $7,622,000 after buying an additional 545 shares during the last quarter. Gallacher Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Accenture in the first quarter worth $261,000. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. increased its position in Accenture by 24.0% during the first quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. now owns 133,950 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $46,428,000 after acquiring an additional 25,908 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Motive Wealth Advisors purchased a new position in Accenture in the first quarter worth about $221,000. 75.14% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Julie Spellman Sweet sold 9,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, October 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $376.16, for a total transaction of $3,385,440.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 20,324 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,645,075.84. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other news, CEO Julie Spellman Sweet sold 9,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, October 21st. The shares were 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 represents a 0.00 % 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, insider Angela Beatty sold 673 shares of Accenture stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $372.18, for a total transaction of $250,477.14. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 5,650 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,102,817. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 36,298 shares of company stock valued at $13,372,661 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.07% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on the stock. UBS Group upped their price target on shares of Accenture from $400.00 to $415.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, September 27th. Piper Sandler Companies reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $329.00 price target on shares of Accenture in a research report on Friday, September 20th. Bank of America boosted their price objective on shares of Accenture from $365.00 to $388.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, September 27th. Robert W. Baird raised their target price on Accenture from $350.00 to $370.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, September 27th. Finally, Barclays boosted their price target on Accenture from $350.00 to $415.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, September 30th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $368.23.

Accenture Price Performance

NYSE:ACN opened at $356.13 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $222.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.16, a PEG ratio of 3.02 and a beta of 1.25. Accenture plc has a 1 year low of $278.69 and a 1 year high of $387.51. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $352.96 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $324.80.

Accenture (NYSE:ACN) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, September 26th. The information technology services provider reported $2.79 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $16.37 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.71 earnings per share. Accenture’s revenue was up 2.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts anticipate that Accenture plc will post 12.77 EPS for the current year.

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

Accenture Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed 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 of this dividend is Thursday, October 10th. This is an increase from Accenture’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.29. This represents a $5.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.66%. Accenture’s dividend payout ratio is 51.79%.

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.