University of Texas Texas AM Investment Management Co. Decreases Holdings in Accenture plc (NYSE:ACN)

University of Texas Texas AM Investment Management Co. cut its position in Accenture plc (NYSE:ACN) by 63.0% during the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 1,645 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock after selling 2,801 shares during the period. University of Texas Texas AM Investment Management Co.’s holdings in Accenture were worth $499,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Unique Wealth Strategies LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Accenture in the second quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Annapolis Financial Services LLC increased its holdings in shares of Accenture by 507.7% during the 1st quarter. Annapolis Financial Services LLC now owns 79 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $27,000 after buying an additional 66 shares during the last quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC purchased a new position in Accenture in the second quarter worth approximately $28,000. Ables Iannone Moore & Associates Inc. acquired a new stake in Accenture during the fourth quarter worth $29,000. Finally, Atwood & Palmer Inc. lifted its stake in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 58 shares during the last quarter. 75.14% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Accenture Trading Down 0.4 %

Shares of NYSE:ACN opened at $352.04 on Wednesday. Accenture plc has a 52 week low of $278.69 and a 52 week high of $387.51. The company’s 50 day moving average is $334.79 and its two-hundred day moving average is $320.07. The company has a market cap of $220.62 billion, a PE ratio of 32.24, a P/E/G ratio of 3.69 and a beta of 1.24.

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

Accenture announced that its board has approved a stock buyback 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 reacquire 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 shares are undervalued.

Accenture Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared 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 is a positive change from Accenture’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.29. This represents a $5.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.68%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, October 10th. Accenture’s dividend payout ratio is currently 47.25%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, General Counsel Joel Unruch sold 8,145 shares of the 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,564,161.45. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at 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 shares were sold at an average price of $329.82, for a total transaction of $1,649,100.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 8,989 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,964,751.98. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, General Counsel Joel Unruch sold 8,145 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the general counsel now directly owns 22,849 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,564,161.45. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 21,421 shares of company stock valued at $6,912,635. 0.07% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

ACN has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Wedbush reduced their price objective on shares of Accenture from $400.00 to $350.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, June 12th. Piper Sandler upgraded shares of Accenture from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $329.00 to $395.00 in a report on Thursday, September 26th. Citigroup lifted their target price on shares of Accenture from $350.00 to $405.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 17th. StockNews.com upgraded Accenture from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, September 27th. Finally, Mizuho lifted their price objective on Accenture from $352.00 to $365.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 18th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Accenture currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $371.18.

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.