Marotta Asset Management Decreases Stock Holdings in Accenture plc (NYSE:ACN)

Marotta Asset Management lessened its holdings in shares of Accenture plc (NYSE:ACN) by 1.2% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 2,447 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock after selling 29 shares during the period. Marotta Asset Management’s holdings in Accenture were worth $865,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Capital International Investors purchased a new stake in shares of Accenture in the 4th quarter worth approximately $116,954,000. Cetera Advisor Networks LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Accenture by 3.6% during the fourth quarter. Cetera Advisor Networks LLC now owns 50,073 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $17,571,000 after purchasing an additional 1,745 shares in the last quarter. Morningstar Investment Services LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Accenture by 105.6% during the 4th quarter. Morningstar Investment Services LLC now owns 3,387 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $1,191,000 after acquiring an additional 1,740 shares during the last quarter. CFS Investment Advisory Services LLC lifted its position in Accenture by 11.8% during the fourth quarter. CFS Investment Advisory Services LLC now owns 975 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $342,000 after purchasing an additional 103 shares during the period. Finally, CenterBook Partners LP purchased a new stake in Accenture in the fourth quarter worth approximately $2,218,000. Institutional investors own 75.14% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other Accenture news, General Counsel Joel Unruch sold 8,145 shares of Accenture stock in a transaction 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 completion of the transaction, the general counsel now directly owns 22,849 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,564,161.45. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In related news, General Counsel Joel Unruch sold 8,145 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the general counsel now directly owns 22,849 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,564,161.45. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Ellyn Shook sold 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $329.82, for a total value of $1,649,100.00. Following 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. Insiders sold 21,421 shares of company stock valued at $6,912,635 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.07% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ACN has been the topic of a number of research reports. Robert W. Baird raised their price target on Accenture from $350.00 to $370.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, September 27th. TD Cowen raised Accenture from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their target price for the company from $321.00 to $400.00 in a report on Monday. Barclays boosted their price target on Accenture from $350.00 to $415.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday. Morgan Stanley downgraded shares of Accenture from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and dropped their price objective for the stock from $382.00 to $300.00 in a report on Wednesday, June 26th. Finally, Susquehanna lifted their price target on shares of Accenture from $350.00 to $360.00 and gave the stock 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. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $371.18.

Accenture Trading Up 1.4 %

Shares of Accenture stock opened at $361.37 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $226.47 billion, a PE ratio of 33.09, a PEG ratio of 3.69 and a beta of 1.25. Accenture plc has a 12 month low of $278.69 and a 12 month high of $387.51. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $335.96 and a 200 day moving average of $320.60.

Accenture (NYSE:ACN) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, September 26th. The information technology services provider reported $2.79 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 the consensus estimate of $16.37 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.71 earnings per share. Accenture’s revenue was up 2.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Accenture plc will post 11.95 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Accenture declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share buyback program on Thursday, September 26th that authorizes the company to repurchase $4.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the information technology services provider to repurchase up to 1.8% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are generally a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Accenture Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, October 10th will be given a dividend of $1.48 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, October 10th. This is an increase from Accenture’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.29. This represents a $5.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.64%. Accenture’s dividend payout ratio is 54.21%.

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.