M&R Capital Management Inc. Has $5.10 Million Stake in Accenture plc (NYSE:ACN)

M&R Capital Management Inc. lowered its position in shares of Accenture plc (NYSE:ACN) by 3.3% in the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 14,422 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock after selling 488 shares during the period. Accenture makes up about 1.1% of M&R Capital Management Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 24th largest position. M&R Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Accenture were worth $5,098,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Unique Wealth Strategies LLC acquired a new stake in Accenture in the 2nd quarter worth about $26,000. Annapolis Financial Services LLC raised its position in shares of Accenture by 507.7% in the first quarter. Annapolis Financial Services LLC now owns 79 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $27,000 after buying an additional 66 shares in the last quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC acquired a new stake in Accenture during the second quarter worth approximately $28,000. Ables Iannone Moore & Associates Inc. bought a new position in Accenture during the 4th quarter worth $29,000. Finally, Atwood & Palmer Inc. raised its holdings in Accenture by 214.8% in the 1st quarter. Atwood & Palmer Inc. now owns 85 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 58 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 75.14% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have recently issued reports on the company. TD Cowen raised Accenture from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $321.00 to $400.00 in a report on Monday. Guggenheim raised their target price on shares of Accenture from $380.00 to $395.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, September 27th. Mizuho upped their price target on shares of Accenture from $352.00 to $365.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 18th. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their price objective on shares of Accenture from $340.00 to $275.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, June 5th. Finally, Wedbush reduced their target price on Accenture from $400.00 to $350.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, June 12th. Eight research 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 stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $371.18.

Insider Transactions at Accenture

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

Accenture Trading Up 1.2 %

NYSE ACN opened at $356.31 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $223.30 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.63, a PEG ratio of 3.69 and a beta of 1.25. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $335.34 and a 200 day simple moving average of $320.32. Accenture plc has a 12-month low of $278.69 and a 12-month high of $387.51.

Accenture (NYSE:ACN) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, September 26th. The information technology services provider reported $2.79 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.78 by $0.01. Accenture had a net margin of 10.79% and a return on equity of 27.48%. The firm had revenue of $16.41 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.37 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $2.71 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 2.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts predict that Accenture plc will post 11.95 EPS for the current year.

Accenture Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, October 10th will be paid a $1.48 dividend. This represents a $5.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.66%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, October 10th. This is an increase from Accenture’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.29. Accenture’s dividend payout ratio is 54.21%.

Accenture declared that its Board of Directors has approved a stock repurchase plan on Thursday, September 26th that permits the company to buyback $4.00 billion in 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 plans are usually an indication that the company’s management 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.