Farmers Trust Co. Decreases Stock Position in Accenture plc (NYSE:ACN)

Farmers Trust Co. decreased its holdings in Accenture plc (NYSE:ACN) by 1.2% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 10,824 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock after selling 126 shares during the quarter. Farmers Trust Co.’s holdings in Accenture were worth $3,808,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the business. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC raised its stake in Accenture by 378.9% during the 3rd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 5,491,736 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $1,941,219,000 after buying an additional 4,345,039 shares during the last quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC boosted its position in Accenture by 44.7% in the second quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 2,709,989 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $822,238,000 after purchasing an additional 837,677 shares during the last quarter. 1832 Asset Management L.P. increased its position in shares of Accenture by 251.3% during the 2nd 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 purchasing an additional 712,400 shares during the last quarter. Holocene Advisors LP bought a new position in shares of Accenture in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $204,895,000. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its position in Accenture by 37,788.5% during the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 510,358 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $180,401,000 after buying an additional 509,011 shares during the period. 75.14% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Julie Spellman Sweet sold 9,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 20,324 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,645,075.84. This represents a 30.69 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Ryoji Sekido sold 3,191 shares of Accenture stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $343.70, for a total value of $1,096,746.70. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly 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. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 36,673 shares of company stock worth $13,507,099. Corporate insiders own 0.02% of the company’s stock.

Accenture Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:ACN traded up $1.10 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $357.49. 1,259,968 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,499,847. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $357.26 and a 200-day moving average price of $343.27. The firm has a market capitalization of $223.71 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.28, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.23 and a beta of 1.24. Accenture plc has a 1 year low of $278.69 and a 1 year high of $387.51.

Accenture (NYSE:ACN) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, December 19th. The information technology services provider reported $3.59 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.43 by $0.16. The company had revenue of $17.69 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $17.15 billion. Accenture had a net margin of 11.20% and a return on equity of 26.83%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $3.27 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts predict that Accenture plc will post 12.74 earnings per share for the current year.

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

Accenture Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 14th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, January 16th will be given a dividend of $1.48 per share. This represents a $5.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.66%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, January 16th. Accenture’s payout ratio is 49.66%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on ACN shares. Guggenheim lifted their price target 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. UBS Group upped their price target on Accenture from $450.00 to $455.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, December 20th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on Accenture from $370.00 to $396.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, December 16th. Wolfe Research upgraded shares of Accenture from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $425.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada upped their price target on shares of Accenture from $377.00 to $389.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, September 27th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $385.04.

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.