Accenture plc (NYSE:ACN) Shares Acquired by Legal & General Group Plc

Legal & General Group Plc increased its position in shares of Accenture plc (NYSE:ACN) by 1.4% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 5,887,266 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 80,514 shares during the quarter. Legal & General Group Plc owned approximately 0.94% of Accenture worth $1,786,256,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. New Mexico Educational Retirement Board boosted its position in Accenture by 11.9% during the first quarter. New Mexico Educational Retirement Board now owns 36,750 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $12,393,000 after acquiring an additional 3,900 shares during the last quarter. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Accenture by 18.7% during the 2nd quarter. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp now owns 172,199 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $52,247,000 after purchasing an additional 27,168 shares during the last quarter. Platform Technology Partners grew its position in shares of Accenture by 7.0% in the fourth quarter. Platform Technology Partners now owns 1,996 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $733,000 after purchasing an additional 131 shares in the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC lifted its position in Accenture by 13.3% during the first quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 183,446 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $63,584,000 after buying an additional 21,516 shares in the last quarter. Finally, M&G Plc acquired a new position in Accenture during the first quarter worth $19,007,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.14% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on ACN. Barclays lowered their price target on shares of Accenture from $390.00 to $350.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, June 17th. Bank of America dropped their price target on shares of Accenture from $419.00 to $365.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, June 5th. Wedbush reduced their price target on shares of Accenture from $400.00 to $350.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, June 12th. The Goldman Sachs Group initiated coverage on Accenture in a research note on Monday, June 24th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $335.00 target price for the company. 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. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $359.14.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Ellyn Shook sold 5,000 shares of Accenture stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $329.82, for a total transaction of $1,649,100.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 8,989 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,964,751.98. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other Accenture news, General Counsel Joel Unruch sold 8,145 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $331.05, for a total transaction of $2,696,402.25. Following the sale, the general counsel now owns 22,849 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,564,161.45. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Ellyn Shook sold 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $329.82, for a total transaction of $1,649,100.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 8,989 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,964,751.98. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 21,421 shares of company stock worth $6,912,635. Company insiders own 0.07% of the company’s stock.

Accenture Stock Up 5.6 %

NYSE:ACN opened at $355.81 on Friday. Accenture plc has a 52 week low of $278.69 and a 52 week high of $387.51. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $333.51 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $321.39. The company has a market cap of $222.98 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.58, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.69 and a beta of 1.24.

Accenture Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, October 10th will be paid a $1.48 dividend. This represents a $5.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.66%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, October 10th. This is a boost from Accenture’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.29. Accenture’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 47.25%.

Accenture declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock repurchase program on Thursday, September 26th that permits the company to buyback $4.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the information technology services provider to reacquire up to 1.8% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are typically an indication that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

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.