Accenture plc (NYSE:ACN) Position Raised by BKM Wealth Management LLC

BKM Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in Accenture plc (NYSE:ACN) by 10.3% during the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 7,836 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock after buying an additional 733 shares during the period. Accenture makes up 1.1% of BKM Wealth Management LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 21st largest position. BKM Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Accenture were worth $2,770,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Wealthcare Advisory Partners LLC lifted its stake in Accenture by 159.5% during the first quarter. Wealthcare Advisory Partners LLC now owns 3,615 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $1,253,000 after purchasing an additional 2,222 shares during the last quarter. 180 Wealth Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Accenture by 16.3% during the first quarter. 180 Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,459 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $506,000 after purchasing an additional 205 shares during the period. Kathmere Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Accenture by 19.4% in the 1st quarter. Kathmere Capital Management LLC now owns 1,486 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $515,000 after purchasing an additional 241 shares in the last quarter. Baker Ellis Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in Accenture by 28.8% during the 1st quarter. Baker Ellis Asset Management LLC now owns 760 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $263,000 after buying an additional 170 shares during the period. Finally, Winthrop Advisory Group LLC lifted its stake in Accenture by 6.6% during the first quarter. Winthrop Advisory Group LLC now owns 1,868 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $647,000 after buying an additional 115 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.14% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Accenture

In other news, CAO Melissa A. Burgum sold 458 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $373.25, for a total value of $170,948.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 9,777 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,649,265.25. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, CAO Melissa A. Burgum sold 458 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 17th. The shares were 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 in the company, valued at approximately $3,649,265.25. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Angela Beatty sold 673 shares of Accenture stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $372.18, for a total transaction of $250,477.14. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 5,650 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,102,817. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 24,971 shares of company stock valued at $9,330,113. 0.07% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Accenture Price Performance

ACN stock opened at $360.87 on Friday. The company has a 50-day moving average of $350.24 and a two-hundred day moving average of $323.02. The stock has a market capitalization of $226.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.05, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.47 and a beta of 1.25. Accenture plc has a 52-week low of $278.69 and a 52-week high of $387.51.

Accenture (NYSE:ACN) last released its earnings results on Thursday, September 26th. The information technology services provider reported $2.79 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 firm had revenue of $16.41 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.37 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $2.71 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 2.6% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts expect that Accenture plc will post 12.79 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Accenture announced that its board has approved a stock buyback plan on Thursday, September 26th that authorizes the company to buyback $4.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the information technology services provider to repurchase up to 1.8% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are usually a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Accenture Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, October 10th will be issued a $1.48 dividend. This is a boost from Accenture’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.29. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, October 10th. This represents a $5.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.64%. Accenture’s dividend payout ratio is 54.21%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Piper Sandler Companies restated a “neutral” rating and set a $329.00 price target on shares of Accenture in a report on Friday, September 20th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on Accenture from $376.00 to $370.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, September 24th. Mizuho upped their price target on Accenture from $352.00 to $365.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 18th. Guggenheim raised their price objective on Accenture from $380.00 to $395.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, September 27th. Finally, Citigroup upped their target price on Accenture from $350.00 to $405.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 17th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $371.18.

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.