Carderock Capital Management Inc. Increases Holdings in Accenture plc (NYSE:ACN)

Carderock Capital Management Inc. increased its stake in Accenture plc (NYSE:ACN) by 4.0% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 21,819 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 834 shares during the period. Carderock Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Accenture were worth $7,713,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. NBC Securities Inc. raised its holdings in Accenture by 0.6% during the 3rd quarter. NBC Securities Inc. now owns 5,206 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $1,840,000 after buying an additional 30 shares during the period. West Paces Advisors Inc. raised its stake in shares of Accenture by 10.2% in the first quarter. West Paces Advisors Inc. now owns 346 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $120,000 after acquiring an additional 32 shares during the period. Tsfg LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Accenture by 31.1% in the 2nd quarter. Tsfg LLC now owns 135 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $41,000 after acquiring an additional 32 shares during the last quarter. Meadow Creek Wealth Advisors LLC raised its position in Accenture by 4.5% in the 2nd quarter. Meadow Creek Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 747 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $227,000 after purchasing an additional 32 shares during the period. Finally, Encompass More Asset Management boosted its position in shares of Accenture by 4.8% during the second quarter. Encompass More Asset Management now owns 700 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $212,000 after buying an additional 32 shares during the period. 75.14% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Accenture Stock Up 1.0 %

Shares of Accenture stock opened at $372.47 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $233.42 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.11, a PEG ratio of 3.47 and a beta of 1.25. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $343.07 and its 200-day moving average price is $321.13. Accenture plc has a 52-week low of $278.69 and a 52-week high of $387.51.

Accenture (NYSE:ACN) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, September 26th. The information technology services provider reported $2.79 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.78 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $16.41 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $16.37 billion. Accenture had a return on equity of 26.83% and a net margin of 11.20%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 2.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $2.71 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Accenture plc will post 12.79 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Accenture declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a share repurchase program on Thursday, September 26th that permits the company to repurchase $4.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the information technology services provider to buy up to 1.8% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are typically an indication that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Accenture Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, October 10th will be paid a dividend of $1.48 per share. This is an increase from Accenture’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.29. This represents a $5.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.59%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, October 10th. Accenture’s payout ratio is presently 54.21%.

Insider Activity

In other Accenture news, insider Ellyn Shook sold 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the insider now owns 8,989 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,964,751.98. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, General Counsel Joel Unruch sold 8,145 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the general counsel now owns 22,849 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,564,161.45. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, insider Ellyn Shook sold 5,000 shares of the business’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 owns 8,989 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,964,751.98. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.07% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on Accenture from $376.00 to $370.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, September 24th. StockNews.com upgraded Accenture from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, September 27th. Piper Sandler upgraded shares of Accenture from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $329.00 to $395.00 in a report on Thursday, September 26th. Bank of America raised their price target on shares of Accenture from $365.00 to $388.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, September 27th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group initiated coverage on shares of Accenture in a research report on Monday, June 24th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $335.00 price objective for the company. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Accenture currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $371.18.

Accenture 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.