US Bancorp DE Has $394.85 Million Stock Holdings in Accenture plc (NYSE:ACN)

US Bancorp DE lessened its stake in shares of Accenture plc (NYSE:ACN) by 1.1% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 1,117,036 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock after selling 12,736 shares during the quarter. US Bancorp DE owned about 0.18% of Accenture worth $394,853,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of ACN. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC lifted its position in shares of Accenture by 13.3% during the 1st quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 183,446 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $63,584,000 after acquiring an additional 21,516 shares during the period. SeaCrest Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in Accenture by 8.6% during the first quarter. SeaCrest Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,685 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $584,000 after buying an additional 134 shares in the last quarter. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. raised its position in shares of Accenture by 1.5% in the 1st quarter. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. now owns 3,601 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $1,248,000 after buying an additional 54 shares in the last quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC boosted its position in shares of Accenture by 1.2% during the 1st quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 28,991 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $10,048,000 after acquiring an additional 350 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Diversify Advisory Services LLC acquired a new position in Accenture during the first quarter valued at approximately $5,099,000. Institutional investors own 75.14% of the company’s stock.

Accenture Trading Down 0.4 %

ACN stock traded down $1.24 during trading on Thursday, reaching $345.33. 690,346 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,717,686. Accenture plc has a twelve month low of $278.69 and a twelve month high of $387.51. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $351.80 and its 200 day moving average is $323.68. The firm has a market cap of $215.89 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.32, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.47 and a beta of 1.25.

Accenture (NYSE:ACN) last issued its 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 for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $16.37 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $2.71 EPS. Accenture’s quarterly revenue was up 2.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts predict that Accenture plc will post 12.79 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Accenture declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock repurchase plan on Thursday, September 26th that permits the company to buyback $4.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the information technology services provider to purchase up to 1.8% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are usually an indication that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Accenture Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, October 10th will be issued a dividend of $1.48 per share. This is a positive change from Accenture’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.29. This represents a $5.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.71%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, October 10th. Accenture’s payout ratio is currently 51.79%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Julie Spellman Sweet sold 9,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, October 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $376.16, for a total value of $3,385,440.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 20,324 shares in the company, valued at $7,645,075.84. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In related news, CFO Kathleen R. Mcclure sold 5,090 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, October 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $373.22, for a total value of $1,899,689.80. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 38,825 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $14,490,266.50. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Julie Spellman Sweet sold 9,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $376.16, for a total transaction of $3,385,440.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 20,324 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,645,075.84. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 33,107 shares of company stock worth $12,275,914 over the last 90 days. 0.07% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on ACN. Susquehanna lifted their price target on Accenture from $350.00 to $360.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, September 27th. Robert W. Baird increased their target price on shares of Accenture from $350.00 to $370.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, September 27th. BNP Paribas lowered shares of Accenture from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $375.00 price target on the stock. in a report on Wednesday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on shares of Accenture from $376.00 to $370.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, September 24th. Finally, Piper Sandler Companies reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $329.00 price objective on shares of Accenture in a report on Friday, September 20th. 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, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $368.23.

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.