Platform Technology Partners Buys 35 Shares of Accenture plc (NYSE:ACN)

Platform Technology Partners increased its position in shares of Accenture plc (NYSE:ACN) by 1.8% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,029 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 35 shares during the quarter. Platform Technology Partners’ holdings in Accenture were worth $717,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. GSA Capital Partners LLP increased its stake in Accenture by 94.3% in the third quarter. GSA Capital Partners LLP now owns 11,393 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $4,027,000 after acquiring an additional 5,530 shares during the last quarter. Waverton Investment Management Ltd bought a new position in shares of Accenture in the 3rd quarter valued at $232,000. Harbour Investments Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Accenture by 14.1% during the 3rd quarter. Harbour Investments Inc. now owns 1,143 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $404,000 after buying an additional 141 shares in the last quarter. Entropy Technologies LP bought a new stake in shares of Accenture during the 3rd quarter worth $745,000. Finally, Nations Financial Group Inc. IA ADV boosted its stake in Accenture by 2.9% in the third quarter. Nations Financial Group Inc. IA ADV now owns 9,688 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $3,425,000 after buying an additional 271 shares in the last quarter. 75.14% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Accenture Price Performance

NYSE ACN opened at $357.30 on Tuesday. Accenture plc has a one year low of $278.69 and a one year high of $387.51. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $353.95 and a 200 day simple moving average of $325.80. The stock has a market capitalization of $223.37 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.26, a P/E/G ratio of 3.11 and a beta of 1.25.

Accenture (NYSE:ACN) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, September 26th. The information technology services provider reported $2.79 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.78 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $16.41 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.37 billion. Accenture had a net margin of 11.20% and a return on equity of 26.83%. Accenture’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $2.71 EPS. Equities analysts expect that Accenture plc will post 12.77 earnings per share for the current year.

Accenture announced that its Board of Directors has approved a stock buyback plan 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 plans are usually an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Accenture Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, October 10th will be paid a $1.48 dividend. 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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.66%. Accenture’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 51.79%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Accenture news, CEO Ryoji Sekido sold 3,191 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $343.70, for a total value of $1,096,746.70. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 6 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,062.20. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other news, CEO Ryoji Sekido sold 3,191 shares of Accenture stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $343.70, for a total transaction of $1,096,746.70. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 6 shares in the company, valued at $2,062.20. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Angela Beatty sold 673 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $372.18, for a total transaction of $250,477.14. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 5,650 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,102,817. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 36,298 shares of company stock valued at $13,372,661. 0.07% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the stock. BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on shares of Accenture from $380.00 to $390.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, September 27th. Piper Sandler raised shares of Accenture from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $329.00 to $395.00 in a research note on Thursday, September 26th. Guggenheim increased their price target on Accenture from $380.00 to $395.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, September 27th. BNP Paribas lowered Accenture from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $375.00 price objective on the stock. in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, UBS Group increased their target price on Accenture from $400.00 to $415.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, September 27th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $368.23.

About Accenture

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.