Franklin Parlapiano Turner & Welch LLC Increases Holdings in Accenture plc (NYSE:ACN)

Franklin Parlapiano Turner & Welch LLC raised its stake in Accenture plc (NYSE:ACN) by 1.1% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 24,001 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock after buying an additional 256 shares during the quarter. Accenture makes up approximately 2.2% of Franklin Parlapiano Turner & Welch LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 17th largest position. Franklin Parlapiano Turner & Welch LLC’s holdings in Accenture were worth $8,484,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of ACN. Swedbank AB purchased a new position in Accenture during the first quarter worth about $820,912,000. Clearbridge Investments LLC raised its position in shares of Accenture by 44.7% during the 2nd quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 2,709,989 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $822,238,000 after buying an additional 837,677 shares during the period. 1832 Asset Management L.P. lifted its holdings in Accenture by 251.3% in the second quarter. 1832 Asset Management L.P. now owns 995,896 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $302,165,000 after acquiring an additional 712,400 shares during the last quarter. Capital International Investors grew its position in Accenture by 196.5% in the first quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 988,094 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $342,483,000 after acquiring an additional 654,807 shares during the period. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in Accenture by 1.1% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 59,718,732 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $20,699,110,000 after purchasing an additional 635,349 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.14% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on the company. 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. Susquehanna lifted their price target on shares of Accenture from $350.00 to $360.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, September 27th. Morgan Stanley lowered shares of Accenture from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and decreased their price objective for the stock from $382.00 to $300.00 in a report on Wednesday, June 26th. TD Cowen raised shares of Accenture from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $321.00 to $400.00 in a research report on Monday, September 30th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on Accenture from $376.00 to $370.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, September 24th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $371.18.

Insider Buying and Selling at Accenture

In related news, insider Angela Beatty sold 673 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $372.18, for a total transaction of $250,477.14. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 5,650 shares in the company, valued at $2,102,817. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other Accenture news, insider Angela Beatty sold 673 shares of Accenture stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $372.18, for a total value of $250,477.14. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 5,650 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,102,817. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Kathleen R. Mcclure sold 5,090 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, October 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $373.22, for a total value of $1,899,689.80. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 38,825 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $14,490,266.50. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 20,221 shares of company stock worth $7,572,755 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.07% of the company’s stock.

Accenture Trading Down 0.3 %

Shares of ACN stock opened at $370.63 on Thursday. Accenture plc has a 12 month low of $278.69 and a 12 month high of $387.51. The company has a market cap of $232.27 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.94, a PEG ratio of 3.47 and a beta of 1.25. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $348.78 and a 200 day moving average price of $322.52.

Accenture (NYSE:ACN) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, September 26th. The information technology services provider reported $2.79 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.78 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $16.41 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $16.37 billion. Accenture had a return on equity of 26.83% and a net margin of 11.20%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $2.71 EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that Accenture plc will post 12.79 EPS for the current year.

Accenture Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, October 10th will be given a $1.48 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, October 10th. This is a boost from Accenture’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.29. This represents a $5.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.60%. Accenture’s payout ratio is 54.21%.

Accenture announced that its board has authorized a share 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 repurchase up to 1.8% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are usually an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

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.