Accenture plc (NYSE:ACN) Stake Boosted by Smith Salley Wealth Management

Smith Salley Wealth Management raised its position in shares of Accenture plc (NYSE:ACN) by 2.3% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 53,562 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock after buying an additional 1,204 shares during the period. Accenture comprises 1.2% of Smith Salley Wealth Management’s holdings, making the stock its 26th largest position. Smith Salley Wealth Management’s holdings in Accenture were worth $18,843,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in ACN. Morse Asset Management Inc acquired a new position in Accenture in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $25,000. MidAtlantic Capital Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Accenture in the third quarter worth $30,000. Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC purchased a new position in shares of Accenture during the fourth quarter valued at $34,000. Mowery & Schoenfeld Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in Accenture by 607.1% in the 3rd quarter. Mowery & Schoenfeld Wealth Management LLC now owns 99 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $35,000 after acquiring an additional 85 shares in the last quarter. Finally, RPg Family Wealth Advisory LLC purchased a new position in Accenture during the 3rd quarter valued at about $39,000. 75.14% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Accenture Trading Up 0.5 %

Shares of Accenture stock opened at $352.33 on Friday. Accenture plc has a 1 year low of $278.69 and a 1 year high of $387.51. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $357.59 and its 200-day simple moving average is $345.36. The company has a market cap of $220.49 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.56, a PEG ratio of 3.11 and a beta of 1.24. The company has a current ratio of 1.47, a quick ratio of 1.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17.

Accenture (NYSE:ACN) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, December 19th. The information technology services provider reported $3.59 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.43 by $0.16. Accenture had a net margin of 11.41% and a return on equity of 26.91%. The company had revenue of $17.69 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $17.15 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $3.27 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 9.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Accenture plc will post 12.69 EPS for the current year.

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

Accenture Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 14th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, January 16th will be issued a dividend of $1.48 per share. This represents a $5.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.68%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, January 16th. Accenture’s payout ratio is presently 49.66%.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Julie Spellman Sweet sold 9,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 $7,645,075.84. The trade was a 30.69 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Ryoji Sekido sold 3,191 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,062.20. This represents a 99.81 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 26,125 shares of company stock worth $9,570,260. Company insiders own 0.02% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price target on shares of Accenture from $355.00 to $385.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, December 20th. UBS Group upped their price target on shares of Accenture from $450.00 to $455.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, December 20th. Robert W. Baird reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $370.00 price objective on shares of Accenture in a research report on Tuesday, December 3rd. TD Cowen raised Accenture from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $321.00 to $400.00 in a research note on Monday, September 30th. Finally, BNP Paribas cut Accenture from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $375.00 price target for the company. in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $385.04.

Accenture Company 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.