Accenture plc (NYSE:ACN) Shares Sold by Penobscot Investment Management Company Inc.

Penobscot Investment Management Company Inc. lessened its stake in Accenture plc (NYSE:ACN) by 0.6% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 31,433 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock after selling 194 shares during the quarter. Accenture accounts for about 1.6% of Penobscot Investment Management Company Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 16th largest holding. Penobscot Investment Management Company Inc.’s holdings in Accenture were worth $9,700,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL purchased a new position in Accenture during the first quarter worth approximately $28,000. Barrett & Company Inc. acquired a new stake in Accenture in the 1st quarter valued at $29,000. Sageworth Trust Co increased its holdings in Accenture by 872.7% in the 1st quarter. Sageworth Trust Co now owns 107 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $31,000 after acquiring an additional 96 shares in the last quarter. Guardian Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Accenture during the first quarter worth $32,000. Finally, Ten Capital Wealth Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Accenture by 74.0% in the first quarter. Ten Capital Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 134 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $38,000 after purchasing an additional 57 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.42% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Accenture

In other Accenture news, CEO Julie Spellman Sweet sold 9,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $314.68, for a total value of $2,832,120.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 26,830 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,442,864.40. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other Accenture news, CEO Jean-Marc Ollagnier sold 6,250 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, October 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $302.04, for a total transaction of $1,887,750.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 161,622 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $48,816,308.88. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Julie Spellman Sweet sold 9,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $314.68, for a total transaction of $2,832,120.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 26,830 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,442,864.40. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 36,334 shares of company stock valued at $10,939,027. Insiders own 0.08% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have issued reports on ACN shares. BMO Capital Markets dropped their target price on Accenture from $360.00 to $350.00 in a report on Friday, September 29th. UBS Group began coverage on shares of Accenture in a research report on Tuesday, November 7th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $333.00 price target on the stock. Robert W. Baird cut their target price on Accenture from $332.00 to $322.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, September 29th. Piper Sandler Companies cut their price objective on Accenture from $314.00 to $312.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, September 22nd. Finally, Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $330.00 target price on shares of Accenture in a research note on Tuesday, September 26th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $333.22.

Accenture Stock Performance

Accenture stock traded up $1.86 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $322.35. 218,461 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,234,943. Accenture plc has a 12-month low of $242.80 and a 12-month high of $330.43. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $309.85 and its 200 day simple moving average is $307.13. The stock has a market cap of $202.42 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.76, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.93 and a beta of 1.23.

Accenture (NYSE:ACN) last released its earnings results on Thursday, September 28th. The information technology services provider reported $2.71 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.65 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $15.99 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $16.07 billion. Accenture had a net margin of 10.72% and a return on equity of 29.74%. The business’s revenue was up 3.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $2.60 EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Accenture plc will post 12.1 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Accenture announced that its board has initiated a stock repurchase program on Thursday, September 28th that allows the company to buyback $4.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the information technology services provider to repurchase up to 2% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are generally a sign that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Accenture Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, October 12th will be issued a dividend of $1.29 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, October 11th. This is a boost from Accenture’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.12. This represents a $5.16 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.60%. Accenture’s payout ratio is currently 47.91%.

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.