Main Street Financial Solutions LLC Sells 270 Shares of Accenture plc (NYSE:ACN)

Main Street Financial Solutions LLC trimmed its position in shares of Accenture plc (NYSE:ACN) by 10.2% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 2,389 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock after selling 270 shares during the quarter. Main Street Financial Solutions LLC’s holdings in Accenture were worth $844,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of ACN. Schrum Private Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in Accenture by 78.6% in the third quarter. Schrum Private Wealth Management LLC now owns 11,448 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $4,047,000 after buying an additional 5,038 shares during the last quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Accenture by 0.5% in the third quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. now owns 75,776 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $26,785,000 after purchasing an additional 392 shares during the period. Pinnacle Financial Partners Inc raised its stake in shares of Accenture by 3.3% in the third quarter. Pinnacle Financial Partners Inc now owns 6,438 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $2,276,000 after purchasing an additional 207 shares during the last quarter. MQS Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Accenture during the third quarter worth about $1,040,000. Finally, Simmons Bank increased its holdings in Accenture by 0.9% in the 3rd quarter. Simmons Bank now owns 11,651 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $4,118,000 after buying an additional 99 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.14% of the company’s stock.

Accenture Trading Up 2.7 %

Shares of ACN opened at $370.34 on Thursday. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $354.32 and a 200 day moving average price of $326.17. Accenture plc has a 12-month low of $278.69 and a 12-month high of $387.51. The firm has a market capitalization of $231.52 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.40, a P/E/G ratio of 3.15 and a beta of 1.25.

Accenture (NYSE:ACN) last announced its quarterly 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. The business had revenue of $16.41 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $16.37 billion. Accenture had a net margin of 11.20% and a return on equity of 26.83%. The business’s revenue was up 2.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $2.71 EPS. Equities research analysts predict that Accenture plc will post 12.77 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Accenture Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, October 10th will be paid a dividend of $1.48 per share. This represents a $5.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.60%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, October 10th. This is a positive change from Accenture’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.29. Accenture’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 51.79%.

Accenture announced that its Board of Directors has approved a stock buyback program 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 purchase up to 1.8% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are often a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have recently commented on the stock. Bank of America upped their price objective on shares of Accenture from $365.00 to $388.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, September 27th. Robert W. Baird increased their price target on Accenture from $350.00 to $370.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, September 27th. Mizuho upped their target price on Accenture from $352.00 to $365.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 18th. Piper Sandler upgraded Accenture from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $329.00 to $395.00 in a research report on Thursday, September 26th. Finally, Susquehanna raised their price target on shares of Accenture from $350.00 to $360.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, September 27th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $368.23.

Insider Transactions at Accenture

In other news, CAO Melissa A. Burgum sold 458 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $373.25, for a total transaction of $170,948.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 9,777 shares in the company, valued at $3,649,265.25. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, CFO Kathleen R. Mcclure sold 5,090 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, October 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $373.22, for a total transaction of $1,899,689.80. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 38,825 shares in the company, valued at approximately $14,490,266.50. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CAO Melissa A. Burgum sold 458 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $373.25, for a total transaction of $170,948.50. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 9,777 shares in the company, valued at $3,649,265.25. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 36,298 shares of company stock worth $13,372,661. 0.07% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Accenture 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.