Accenture plc (NYSE:ACN) Sees Large Increase in Short Interest

Accenture plc (NYSE:ACN) was the target of a large increase in short interest in November. As of November 30th, there was short interest totalling 6,350,000 shares, an increase of 8.4% from the November 15th total of 5,860,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 2,470,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 2.6 days. Approximately 1.0% of the shares of the company are sold short.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Robert W. Baird reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $370.00 target price on shares of Accenture in a research report on Tuesday, December 3rd. StockNews.com raised Accenture from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Piper Sandler raised their price objective on Accenture from $395.00 to $422.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Susquehanna upped their target price on Accenture from $350.00 to $360.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, September 27th. Finally, Mizuho lifted their price target on shares of Accenture from $352.00 to $365.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 18th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $374.50.

Accenture Price Performance

Shares of ACN traded down $0.80 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $356.26. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 419,585 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,669,399. Accenture has a fifty-two week low of $278.69 and a fifty-two week high of $387.51. The stock has a market capitalization of $222.72 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.25, a PEG ratio of 3.23 and a beta of 1.24. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $360.55 and a 200 day moving average price of $335.71.

Accenture (NYSE:ACN) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, September 26th. The information technology services provider reported $2.79 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.78 by $0.01. Accenture had a return on equity of 26.83% and a net margin of 11.20%. The business had revenue of $16.41 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.37 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $2.71 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 2.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Accenture will post 12.74 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Accenture announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a share repurchase plan on Thursday, September 26th that authorizes the company to buyback $4.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the information technology services provider to buy up to 1.8% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are generally a sign that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Accenture Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, October 10th were paid a dividend of $1.48 per share. This represents a $5.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.66%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, October 10th. This is a boost from Accenture’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.29. Accenture’s payout ratio is 51.79%.

Insider Transactions at Accenture

In related news, CEO Ryoji Sekido sold 3,191 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $343.70, for a total value of $1,096,746.70. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 6 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,062.20. This represents a 99.81 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CAO Melissa A. Burgum sold 458 shares of Accenture stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, October 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $373.25, for a total value of $170,948.50. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 9,777 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,649,265.25. This represents a 4.47 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 36,298 shares of company stock valued at $13,372,661. Corporate insiders own 0.07% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Accenture

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC raised its stake in shares of Accenture by 378.9% in the 3rd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 5,491,736 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $1,941,219,000 after acquiring an additional 4,345,039 shares in the last quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC lifted its stake in shares of Accenture by 44.7% in the second quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 2,709,989 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $822,238,000 after buying an additional 837,677 shares during the last quarter. 1832 Asset Management L.P. boosted its holdings in shares of Accenture by 251.3% during the 2nd quarter. 1832 Asset Management L.P. now owns 995,896 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $302,165,000 after buying an additional 712,400 shares during the period. Holocene Advisors LP bought a new position in Accenture in the 3rd quarter worth $204,895,000. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its position in shares of Accenture by 37,788.5% in the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 510,358 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $180,401,000 after purchasing an additional 509,011 shares during the last quarter. 75.14% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.