Accenture plc (NYSE:ACN) Shares Sold by Riverbridge Partners LLC

Riverbridge Partners LLC decreased its position in Accenture plc (NYSE:ACN) by 7.1% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 3,995 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock after selling 306 shares during the period. Riverbridge Partners LLC’s holdings in Accenture were worth $1,405,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Morse Asset Management Inc bought a new stake in Accenture during the third quarter worth approximately $25,000. MidAtlantic Capital Management Inc. acquired a new position in Accenture during the third quarter worth about $30,000. Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC acquired a new stake in Accenture in the 4th quarter valued at about $34,000. Mowery & Schoenfeld Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Accenture by 607.1% in the 3rd quarter. Mowery & Schoenfeld Wealth Management LLC now owns 99 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 85 shares during the last quarter. Finally, RPg Family Wealth Advisory LLC bought a new stake in shares of Accenture in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $39,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.14% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts recently weighed in on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded shares of Accenture from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $370.00 to $420.00 in a research report on Friday, December 6th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their target price on Accenture from $377.00 to $389.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, September 27th. Robert W. Baird reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $370.00 target price on shares of Accenture in a report on Tuesday, December 3rd. TD Cowen upgraded Accenture from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $321.00 to $400.00 in a report on Monday, September 30th. Finally, Guggenheim raised their price objective on shares of Accenture from $380.00 to $395.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, September 27th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Accenture currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $383.74.

Insider Activity at Accenture

In other Accenture news, CAO Melissa A. Burgum sold 1,487 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $354.54, for a total value of $527,200.98. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 9,247 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,278,431.38. The trade was a 13.85 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Angela Beatty sold 375 shares of Accenture stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $358.50, for a total transaction of $134,437.50. Following the sale, the insider now owns 5,149 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,845,916.50. This trade represents a 6.79 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 17,332 shares of company stock worth $6,172,719. Company insiders own 0.02% of the company’s stock.

Accenture Stock Up 0.7 %

Accenture stock opened at $359.08 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $224.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.12, a P/E/G ratio of 3.14 and a beta of 1.24. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $357.18 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $346.75. Accenture plc has a fifty-two week low of $278.69 and a fifty-two week high of $387.51. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17, a current ratio of 1.47 and a quick ratio of 1.47.

Accenture (NYSE:ACN) last released its earnings results on Thursday, December 19th. The information technology services provider reported $3.59 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.43 by $0.16. The firm had revenue of $17.69 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $17.15 billion. Accenture had a return on equity of 26.91% and a net margin of 11.41%. The company’s revenue was up 9.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $3.27 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that Accenture plc will post 12.69 earnings per share for the current year.

Accenture Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 14th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, January 16th will be issued a dividend of $1.48 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, January 16th. This represents a $5.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.65%. Accenture’s payout ratio is 49.66%.

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