Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. Lowers Position in Accenture plc (NYSE:ACN)

Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. trimmed its stake in shares of Accenture plc (NYSE:ACN) by 1.2% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 402,410 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock after selling 5,001 shares during the period. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P.’s holdings in Accenture were worth $142,238,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Isthmus Partners LLC increased its holdings in shares of Accenture by 0.8% in the third quarter. Isthmus Partners LLC now owns 34,239 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $12,103,000 after purchasing an additional 288 shares during the last quarter. Vinva Investment Management Ltd grew its holdings in Accenture by 94.3% during the 3rd quarter. Vinva Investment Management Ltd now owns 12,855 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $4,495,000 after buying an additional 6,238 shares in the last quarter. Financial Counselors Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Accenture by 11.7% during the 3rd quarter. Financial Counselors Inc. now owns 34,497 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $12,194,000 after acquiring an additional 3,602 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC boosted its position in shares of Accenture by 378.9% during the 3rd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 5,491,736 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $1,941,219,000 after acquiring an additional 4,345,039 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Public Sector Pension Investment Board grew its holdings in shares of Accenture by 12.8% in the third quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 27,296 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $9,649,000 after purchasing an additional 3,100 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.14% of the company’s stock.

Accenture Stock Performance

Shares of ACN opened at $362.16 on Friday. Accenture plc has a fifty-two week low of $278.69 and a fifty-two week high of $387.51. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $358.15 and a 200-day moving average price of $330.46. The stock has a market capitalization of $226.41 billion, a PE ratio of 31.69, a PEG ratio of 3.16 and a beta of 1.25.

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 analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.78 by $0.01. Accenture had a net margin of 11.20% and a return on equity of 26.83%. The company had revenue of $16.41 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $16.37 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $2.71 earnings per share. Accenture’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts forecast that Accenture plc will post 12.77 EPS for the current year.

Accenture Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, October 10th were given a dividend of $1.48 per share. This represents a $5.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.63%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, October 10th. This is an increase from Accenture’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.29. Accenture’s payout ratio is currently 51.79%.

Accenture announced that its board has approved 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 repurchase up to 1.8% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are typically a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have commented on the stock. Robert W. Baird increased their price objective on shares of Accenture from $350.00 to $370.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, September 27th. Citigroup increased their price target on shares of Accenture from $350.00 to $405.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 17th. Barclays boosted their price objective on Accenture from $350.00 to $415.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, September 30th. StockNews.com cut Accenture from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Finally, TD Cowen upgraded Accenture from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price target for the company from $321.00 to $400.00 in a report on Monday, September 30th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $368.23.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Julie Spellman Sweet sold 9,000 shares of Accenture stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $376.16, for a total transaction of $3,385,440.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 20,324 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,645,075.84. The trade was a 30.69 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CAO Melissa A. Burgum sold 458 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, October 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $373.25, for a total transaction of $170,948.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 9,777 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,649,265.25. This trade represents a 4.47 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 36,298 shares of company stock valued at $13,372,661 over the last ninety days. 0.07% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.