Jensen Investment Management Inc. Sells 130,754 Shares of Accenture plc (NYSE:ACN)

Jensen Investment Management Inc. decreased its position in shares of Accenture plc (NYSE:ACN) by 5.4% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,312,038 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock after selling 130,754 shares during the period. Accenture accounts for approximately 6.8% of Jensen Investment Management Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 3rd biggest holding. Jensen Investment Management Inc.’s holdings in Accenture were worth $817,259,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in ACN. Mayflower Financial Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Accenture by 7.2% in the 3rd quarter. Mayflower Financial Advisors LLC now owns 2,751 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $972,000 after purchasing an additional 185 shares during the last quarter. Legacy Capital Wealth Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of Accenture by 3.9% in the 3rd quarter. Legacy Capital Wealth Partners LLC now owns 4,805 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $1,699,000 after purchasing an additional 179 shares during the last quarter. Axxcess Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Accenture by 2.9% in the 3rd quarter. Axxcess Wealth Management LLC now owns 20,731 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $7,328,000 after purchasing an additional 593 shares during the last quarter. Alan B Lancz & Associates Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Accenture in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $203,000. Finally, Covestor Ltd grew its stake in shares of Accenture by 7.2% in the 3rd quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 1,200 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $425,000 after purchasing an additional 81 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.14% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have weighed in on ACN. BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on Accenture from $380.00 to $390.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, September 27th. StockNews.com downgraded Accenture from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on Accenture from $376.00 to $370.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, September 24th. Finally, TD Cowen upgraded Accenture from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $321.00 to $400.00 in a research note on Monday, September 30th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Accenture has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $368.23.

Accenture Price Performance

ACN stock traded down $5.18 during trading on Friday, reaching $355.53. 2,289,531 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,312,858. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $353.64 and its 200-day moving average price is $325.38. Accenture plc has a 52-week low of $278.69 and a 52-week high of $387.51. The firm has a market capitalization of $222.26 billion, a PE ratio of 31.10, a P/E/G ratio of 3.11 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 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 company had revenue of $16.41 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $16.37 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $2.71 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 2.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts predict that Accenture plc will post 12.77 earnings per share for the current year.

Accenture Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, October 10th will be issued a $1.48 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, October 10th. This represents a $5.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.67%. This is an increase from Accenture’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.29. Accenture’s dividend payout ratio is currently 51.79%.

Accenture declared that its Board of Directors has approved a stock repurchase program on Thursday, September 26th that allows the company to repurchase $4.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the information technology services provider to repurchase up to 1.8% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are often a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Julie Spellman Sweet sold 9,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $376.16, for a total value of $3,385,440.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 20,324 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,645,075.84. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other Accenture news, CAO Melissa A. Burgum sold 458 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, October 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $373.25, for a total value of $170,948.50. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 9,777 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,649,265.25. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Julie Spellman Sweet sold 9,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, 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 ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 36,298 shares of company stock valued at $13,372,661 in the last quarter. Insiders own 0.07% of the company’s stock.

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.