River & Mercantile Asset Management LLP lifted its stake in shares of Accenture plc (NYSE:ACN – Free Report) by 6.1% in the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 15,210 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 870 shares during the period. Accenture makes up 0.9% of River & Mercantile Asset Management LLP’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 26th biggest position. River & Mercantile Asset Management LLP’s holdings in Accenture were worth $4,690,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.
A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL purchased a new position in Accenture in the 1st quarter worth $28,000. Barrett & Company Inc. purchased a new position in Accenture in the 1st quarter worth $29,000. Sageworth Trust Co raised its position 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 purchasing an additional 96 shares during the period. Guardian Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Accenture in the 1st quarter worth $32,000. Finally, Ten Capital Wealth Advisors LLC raised its position in Accenture by 74.0% in the 1st quarter. Ten Capital Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 134 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $38,000 after purchasing an additional 57 shares during the period. 70.42% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.
Accenture Trading Up 0.8 %
ACN stock traded up $2.71 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $335.85. 318,423 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,214,466. Accenture plc has a 52-week low of $242.80 and a 52-week high of $335.95. The stock has a market cap of $210.89 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.93, a PEG ratio of 3.09 and a beta of 1.23. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $312.80 and its 200 day moving average is $311.64.
Accenture (NYSE:ACN – Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, September 28th. The information technology services provider reported $2.71 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 analyst estimates of $16.07 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $2.60 earnings per share. Accenture’s quarterly revenue was up 3.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts expect that Accenture plc will post 12.1 EPS for the current fiscal year.
Accenture Increases Dividend
The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, October 12th were issued a $1.29 dividend. This represents a $5.16 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.54%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, October 11th. This is a positive change from Accenture’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.12. Accenture’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 47.91%.
Accenture declared that its board has approved a share repurchase plan 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 buy up to 2% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are often a sign that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.
Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth
A number of equities analysts recently commented on the stock. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Accenture from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 9th. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Accenture from $340.00 to $390.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, September 11th. Robert W. Baird dropped their target price on shares of Accenture from $332.00 to $322.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, September 29th. Redburn Atlantic assumed coverage on shares of Accenture in a research note on Thursday, November 16th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $410.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Citigroup reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $358.00 target price on shares of Accenture in a research note on Monday, September 18th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Accenture has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $337.26.
Read Our Latest Research Report on Accenture
Insider Transactions at Accenture
In other news, CEO Julie Spellman Sweet sold 9,000 shares of the firm’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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 26,830 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,442,864.40. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In related news, CEO Julie Spellman Sweet sold 9,000 shares of Accenture stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the chief executive officer now owns 26,830 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,442,864.40. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, insider Ellyn Shook sold 5,250 shares of Accenture 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 sale, the insider now owns 20,265 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,048,697.20. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 36,334 shares of company stock worth $10,939,027. 0.08% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.
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.
Featured Stories
Want to see what other hedge funds are holding ACN? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Accenture plc (NYSE:ACN – Free Report).
Receive News & Ratings for Accenture Daily – Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts’ ratings for Accenture and related companies with MarketBeat.com’s FREE daily email newsletter.