Accenture plc (NYSE:ACN) Shares Acquired by Mackenzie Financial Corp

Mackenzie Financial Corp raised its stake in Accenture plc (NYSE:ACN) by 2.4% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 2,205,969 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock after buying an additional 51,387 shares during the period. Accenture makes up about 1.0% of Mackenzie Financial Corp’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 21st largest holding. Mackenzie Financial Corp’s holdings in Accenture were worth $669,313,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of ACN. Annapolis Financial Services LLC boosted its position in shares of Accenture by 507.7% in the 1st quarter. Annapolis Financial Services LLC now owns 79 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 66 shares during the period. Ables Iannone Moore & Associates Inc. purchased a new stake in Accenture during the fourth quarter valued at about $29,000. Atwood & Palmer Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Accenture by 214.8% in the first quarter. Atwood & Palmer Inc. now owns 85 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 58 shares during the period. Unique Wealth Strategies LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Accenture during the second quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Finally, Grayhawk Investment Strategies Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Accenture in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $35,000. 75.14% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have issued reports on ACN shares. Piper Sandler raised shares of Accenture from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $329.00 to $395.00 in a research note on Thursday. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price target on Accenture from $395.00 to $340.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, June 12th. Mizuho raised their price objective on Accenture from $352.00 to $365.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 18th. TD Cowen upped their target price on Accenture from $293.00 to $321.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, September 12th. Finally, UBS Group upgraded shares of Accenture from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $400.00 price target for the company in a report on Friday, July 19th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $359.14.

Accenture Price Performance

Shares of ACN opened at $355.81 on Friday. Accenture plc has a one year low of $278.69 and a one year high of $387.51. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $333.51 and its 200 day moving average price is $321.39. The company has a market capitalization of $222.98 billion, a PE ratio of 32.58, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.69 and a beta of 1.24.

Accenture announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock buyback 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 buy up to 1.8% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are often a sign that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Transactions at Accenture

In related news, insider Ellyn Shook sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 23rd. The stock was 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 approximately $2,964,751.98. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, 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 directly owns 8,989 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,964,751.98. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, General Counsel Joel Unruch sold 8,145 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, July 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $331.05, for a total transaction of $2,696,402.25. Following the completion of the sale, the general counsel now owns 22,849 shares in the company, valued at $7,564,161.45. 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 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.