Beacon Wealthcare LLC Purchases 43 Shares of Accenture plc (NYSE:ACN)

Beacon Wealthcare LLC raised its holdings in shares of Accenture plc (NYSE:ACN) by 2.6% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 1,703 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 43 shares during the period. Accenture comprises 0.2% of Beacon Wealthcare LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 14th largest holding. Beacon Wealthcare LLC’s holdings in Accenture were worth $602,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Barlow Wealth Partners Inc. grew its stake in Accenture by 1.7% in the 3rd quarter. Barlow Wealth Partners Inc. now owns 50,438 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $17,996,000 after acquiring an additional 855 shares during the period. First PREMIER Bank raised its position in shares of Accenture by 714.3% during the 3rd quarter. First PREMIER Bank now owns 456 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $161,000 after purchasing an additional 400 shares during the last quarter. True North Advisors LLC increased its stake in Accenture by 6.3% during the 3rd quarter. True North Advisors LLC now owns 3,094 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $1,094,000 after buying an additional 184 shares in the last quarter. Gill Capital Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Accenture in the third quarter worth approximately $230,000. Finally, Hoxton Planning & Management LLC lifted its holdings in Accenture by 37.6% in the 3rd quarter. Hoxton Planning & Management LLC now owns 1,871 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $661,000 after purchasing an additional 511 shares in the last quarter. 75.14% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Accenture Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:ACN traded up $3.13 on Wednesday, hitting $363.51. 263,522 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,753,483. Accenture plc has a 1-year low of $278.69 and a 1-year high of $387.51. The company has a market capitalization of $227.81 billion, a PE ratio of 33.00, a P/E/G ratio of 3.69 and a beta of 1.25. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $337.87 and its 200 day moving average is $319.95.

Accenture (NYSE:ACN) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, September 26th. The information technology services provider reported $2.79 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.78 by $0.01. Accenture had a net margin of 10.79% and a return on equity of 27.48%. The company had revenue of $16.41 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $16.37 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $2.71 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts anticipate that Accenture plc will post 11.95 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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

Accenture Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, October 10th will be issued a $1.48 dividend. This represents a $5.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.63%. This is a boost from Accenture’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.29. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, October 10th. Accenture’s payout ratio is presently 54.21%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Julie Spellman Sweet sold 3,776 shares of Accenture stock in a transaction on Friday, July 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $309.05, for a total value of $1,166,972.80. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 11,819 shares in the company, valued at $3,652,661.95. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, CEO Julie Spellman Sweet sold 3,776 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, July 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $309.05, for a total transaction of $1,166,972.80. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 11,819 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,652,661.95. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CFO Kathleen R. Mcclure sold 3,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, July 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $309.22, for a total transaction of $927,660.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 40,070 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,390,445.40. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 21,421 shares of company stock valued at $6,912,635. Insiders own 0.07% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently weighed in on ACN. Mizuho raised their price target on shares of Accenture from $352.00 to $365.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 18th. Guggenheim lifted their price target on shares of Accenture from $380.00 to $395.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, September 27th. Susquehanna increased their price objective on Accenture from $350.00 to $360.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, September 27th. Bank of America increased their price target on Accenture from $365.00 to $388.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, September 27th. Finally, Robert W. Baird boosted their price target on shares of Accenture from $350.00 to $370.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, September 27th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Accenture has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $371.18.

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.