Artemis Investment Management LLP Acquires 1,630 Shares of Accenture plc (NYSE:ACN)

Artemis Investment Management LLP lifted its stake in Accenture plc (NYSE:ACN) by 21.4% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 9,242 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,630 shares during the quarter. Artemis Investment Management LLP’s holdings in Accenture were worth $3,251,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Morse Asset Management Inc acquired a new stake in shares of Accenture in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $25,000. MidAtlantic Capital Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Accenture during the 3rd quarter worth about $30,000. Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC bought a new stake in shares of Accenture in the 4th quarter valued at about $34,000. Mowery & Schoenfeld Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in Accenture by 607.1% during the third quarter. Mowery & Schoenfeld Wealth Management LLC now owns 99 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 85 shares during the period. Finally, RPg Family Wealth Advisory LLC acquired a new position in Accenture during the third quarter worth approximately $39,000. Institutional investors own 75.14% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Accenture

In other Accenture news, CEO Julie Spellman Sweet sold 8,136 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $362.07, for a total transaction of $2,945,801.52. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 12,188 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,412,909.16. This represents a 40.03 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, General Counsel Joel Unruch sold 4,750 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $369.97, for a total value of $1,757,357.50. Following the transaction, the general counsel now directly owns 22,976 shares in the company, valued at $8,500,430.72. This trade represents a 17.13 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 17,125 shares of company stock valued at $6,184,820. Corporate insiders own 0.02% of the company’s stock.

Accenture Stock Up 0.5 %

Shares of NYSE:ACN opened at $352.33 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $220.49 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.56, a P/E/G ratio of 3.11 and a beta of 1.24. The business’s 50-day moving average is $357.59 and its 200-day moving average is $345.65. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17, a current ratio of 1.47 and a quick ratio of 1.47. Accenture plc has a 1 year low of $278.69 and a 1 year high of $387.51.

Accenture (NYSE:ACN) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, December 19th. The information technology services provider reported $3.59 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.43 by $0.16. The firm had revenue of $17.69 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $17.15 billion. Accenture had a net margin of 11.41% and a return on equity of 26.91%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 9.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $3.27 EPS. Equities research analysts predict that Accenture plc will post 12.69 earnings per share for the current year.

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

Accenture Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 14th. Investors of record on Thursday, January 16th will be given a $1.48 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, January 16th. This represents a $5.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.68%. Accenture’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 49.66%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ACN has been the subject of several research analyst reports. TD Cowen upgraded Accenture from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $321.00 to $400.00 in a research note on Monday, September 30th. 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. Guggenheim lifted their target price on shares of Accenture from $380.00 to $395.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, September 27th. Susquehanna increased their price target on shares of Accenture from $350.00 to $360.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, September 27th. Finally, BNP Paribas lowered Accenture from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $375.00 target price on the stock. in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $385.04.

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.