Accenture plc (NYSE:ACN) Holdings Lifted by Sei Investments Co.

Sei Investments Co. grew its position in Accenture plc (NYSE:ACN) by 1.5% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 469,949 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 6,802 shares during the period. Sei Investments Co. owned approximately 0.07% of Accenture worth $145,017,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL acquired a new stake in shares of Accenture in the 1st quarter worth approximately $28,000. Barrett & Company Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Accenture in the 1st quarter worth approximately $29,000. Sageworth Trust Co lifted its stake in shares of 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 during the period. Guardian Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Accenture in the 1st quarter worth approximately $32,000. Finally, Ten Capital Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Accenture by 74.0% during 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 last quarter. Institutional investors own 70.42% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

ACN has been the subject of several recent research reports. UBS Group initiated coverage on shares of Accenture in a research note on Tuesday, November 7th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $333.00 target price for the company. Citigroup reissued a “buy” rating and set a $358.00 target price on shares of Accenture in a research note on Monday, September 18th. BMO Capital Markets reduced their price target on shares of Accenture from $360.00 to $350.00 in a research report on Friday, September 29th. Robert W. Baird reduced their price target on shares of Accenture from $332.00 to $322.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, September 29th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of Accenture from $314.00 to $341.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 22nd. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Accenture currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $337.26.

Accenture Price Performance

Shares of NYSE ACN traded up $0.42 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $331.32. 674,622 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,230,359. The company’s 50 day moving average is $309.97 and its 200 day moving average is $308.63. The firm has a market capitalization of $208.05 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.80, a P/E/G ratio of 3.02 and a beta of 1.23. Accenture plc has a one year low of $242.80 and a one year high of $332.44.

Accenture (NYSE:ACN) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, September 28th. The information technology services provider reported $2.71 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.65 by $0.06. Accenture had a net margin of 10.72% and a return on equity of 29.74%. The business had revenue of $15.99 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $16.07 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $2.60 EPS. Accenture’s quarterly revenue was up 3.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts anticipate that Accenture plc will post 12.1 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Accenture Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, October 12th were issued a $1.29 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, October 11th. This is an increase from Accenture’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.12. This represents a $5.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.56%. Accenture’s dividend payout ratio is 47.91%.

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Accenture

In other Accenture news, insider Ellyn Shook sold 5,250 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, October 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $298.48, for a total value of $1,567,020.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 20,265 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,048,697.20. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, insider Ellyn Shook sold 5,250 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, October 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $298.48, for a total transaction of $1,567,020.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 20,265 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,048,697.20. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, General Counsel Joel Unruch sold 3,251 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $297.00, for a total transaction of $965,547.00. Following the transaction, the general counsel now directly owns 36,609 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,872,873. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 36,334 shares of company stock valued at $10,939,027 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.08% of the company’s stock.

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.