Accenture (NYSE:ACN) Stock Price Down 0.3% – Should You Sell?

Accenture plc (NYSE:ACN) was down 0.3% during mid-day trading on Friday . The company traded as low as $357.92 and last traded at $360.05. Approximately 256,648 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 91% from the average daily volume of 2,707,953 shares. The stock had previously closed at $361.05.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Susquehanna lifted their target price on shares of Accenture from $350.00 to $360.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, September 27th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on Accenture from $376.00 to $370.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, September 24th. Mizuho lifted their target price on Accenture from $352.00 to $365.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 18th. StockNews.com downgraded Accenture from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on shares of Accenture from $377.00 to $389.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, September 27th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Accenture presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $368.23.

Accenture Trading Down 0.7 %

The firm has a market capitalization of $224.22 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.38, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.16 and a beta of 1.25. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $356.42 and a 200-day moving average price of $329.11.

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. Accenture had a return on equity of 26.83% and a net margin of 11.20%. The company had revenue of $16.41 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $16.37 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.71 earnings per share. Accenture’s revenue was up 2.6% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts anticipate that Accenture plc will post 12.77 earnings per share for the current year.

Accenture Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, October 10th were paid a $1.48 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, October 10th. This represents a $5.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.65%. This is an increase from Accenture’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.29. Accenture’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 51.79%.

Accenture declared that its board has approved a share repurchase plan on Thursday, September 26th that allows the company to buyback $4.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the information technology services provider to reacquire up to 1.8% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are typically an indication that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Transactions at Accenture

In other Accenture news, insider Angela Beatty sold 673 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $372.18, for a total value of $250,477.14. Following the sale, the insider now owns 5,650 shares in the company, valued at $2,102,817. This trade represents a 10.64 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CAO Melissa A. Burgum sold 458 shares of Accenture stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $373.25, for a total value of $170,948.50. Following the sale, 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 ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 36,298 shares of company stock worth $13,372,661. 0.07% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Accenture

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of ACN. Morse Asset Management Inc purchased a new position in Accenture during the 3rd quarter worth $25,000. Unique Wealth Strategies LLC purchased a new position in shares of Accenture during the second quarter valued at $26,000. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC bought a new stake in shares of Accenture in the second quarter valued at about $28,000. MidAtlantic Capital Management Inc. purchased a new stake in Accenture in the third quarter worth about $30,000. Finally, Mowery & Schoenfeld Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in Accenture by 607.1% during the 3rd quarter. Mowery & Schoenfeld Wealth Management LLC now owns 99 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $35,000 after acquiring an additional 85 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 75.14% of the company’s stock.

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.