Moloney Securities Asset Management LLC Boosts Holdings in Accenture plc (NYSE:ACN)

Moloney Securities Asset Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Accenture plc (NYSE:ACN) by 1.8% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,903 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock after buying an additional 33 shares during the quarter. Moloney Securities Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Accenture were worth $673,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of ACN. Central Pacific Bank Trust Division purchased a new position in Accenture during the first quarter worth $89,000. Advisory Services Network LLC boosted its stake in shares of Accenture by 2.5% during the first quarter. Advisory Services Network LLC now owns 21,990 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $7,622,000 after purchasing an additional 545 shares during the period. Gallacher Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Accenture during the first quarter valued at $261,000. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. boosted its stake in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 25,908 shares during the period. Finally, Motive Wealth Advisors purchased a new stake in shares of Accenture during the first quarter valued at $221,000. 75.14% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Accenture news, CEO Julie Spellman Sweet sold 9,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 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 document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In other news, CEO Ryoji Sekido sold 3,191 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $343.70, for a total transaction of $1,096,746.70. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 6 shares in the company, valued at $2,062.20. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Julie Spellman Sweet sold 9,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 20,324 shares in the company, valued at $7,645,075.84. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 36,298 shares of company stock worth $13,372,661. Corporate insiders own 0.07% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on ACN. BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on shares of Accenture from $380.00 to $390.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, September 27th. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of Accenture from $350.00 to $415.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, September 30th. Piper Sandler raised shares of Accenture from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $329.00 to $395.00 in a research note on Thursday, September 26th. Citigroup upped their price objective on shares of Accenture from $350.00 to $405.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 17th. Finally, Guggenheim upped their price objective on shares of Accenture from $380.00 to $395.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, September 27th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $368.23.

Accenture Stock Up 3.1 %

ACN opened at $356.13 on Thursday. Accenture plc has a 52-week low of $278.69 and a 52-week high of $387.51. The company has a market cap of $222.64 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.16, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.02 and a beta of 1.25. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $352.96 and its 200-day moving average price is $324.80.

Accenture (NYSE:ACN) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, September 26th. The information technology services provider reported $2.79 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 the consensus estimate of $16.37 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $2.71 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts anticipate that Accenture plc will post 12.77 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Accenture declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share repurchase plan on Thursday, September 26th that allows the company to buyback $4.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the information technology services provider to buy up to 1.8% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are often a sign that the company’s board of directors 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 $1.48 dividend. This represents a $5.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.66%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, October 10th. This is a positive change from Accenture’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.29. Accenture’s dividend payout ratio is currently 51.79%.

Accenture 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.