Accenture plc (NYSE:ACN) Stock Holdings Lessened by New Hampshire Trust

New Hampshire Trust cut its stake in shares of Accenture plc (NYSE:ACN) by 1.7% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 5,394 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock after selling 92 shares during the period. New Hampshire Trust’s holdings in Accenture were worth $1,898,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in ACN. Cove Private Wealth LLC acquired a new position in shares of Accenture in the fourth quarter worth $411,000. DLK Investment Management LLC increased its position in Accenture by 2.6% in the 4th quarter. DLK Investment Management LLC now owns 9,727 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $3,422,000 after purchasing an additional 248 shares during the last quarter. Stokes Capital Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Accenture by 0.4% during the 4th quarter. Stokes Capital Advisors LLC now owns 22,465 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $7,903,000 after purchasing an additional 88 shares in the last quarter. Thrive Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Accenture by 4.6% in the 4th quarter. Thrive Wealth Management LLC now owns 940 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $331,000 after buying an additional 41 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Willner & Heller LLC acquired a new position in Accenture in the fourth quarter worth approximately $220,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.14% of the company’s stock.

Accenture Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:ACN opened at $352.33 on Tuesday. The business’s 50 day moving average is $357.59 and its 200-day moving average is $345.93. The company has a current ratio of 1.47, a quick ratio of 1.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17. The firm has a market capitalization of $220.49 billion, a PE ratio of 29.56, a PEG ratio of 3.11 and a beta of 1.24. Accenture plc has a 1-year low of $278.69 and a 1-year high of $387.51.

Accenture (NYSE:ACN) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, December 19th. The information technology services provider reported $3.59 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 net margin of 11.41% and a return on equity of 26.91%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $3.27 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that Accenture plc will post 12.69 earnings per share for the current year.

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

Accenture Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 14th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, January 16th will be issued a dividend of $1.48 per share. This represents a $5.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.68%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, January 16th. Accenture’s payout ratio is 49.66%.

Insider Transactions at Accenture

In other Accenture news, CEO Julie Spellman Sweet sold 8,136 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $362.07, for a total transaction of $2,945,801.52. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 12,188 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,412,909.16. This represents a 40.03 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Ryoji Sekido sold 3,191 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $343.70, for a total value of $1,096,746.70. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 6 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,062.20. This represents a 99.81 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 16,452 shares of company stock valued at $5,934,343. Corporate insiders own 0.02% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have commented on ACN shares. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Accenture from $350.00 to $415.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, September 30th. Guggenheim increased their target price on shares of Accenture from $380.00 to $395.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, September 27th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on Accenture from $370.00 to $396.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, December 16th. Bank of America raised their price objective on Accenture from $365.00 to $388.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, September 27th. Finally, BNP Paribas cut Accenture from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $375.00 target price for the company. in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $385.04.

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.