Accenture plc (NYSE:ACN) Shares Bought by UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC

UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Accenture plc (NYSE:ACN) by 378.9% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 5,491,736 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 4,345,039 shares during the period. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC owned approximately 0.88% of Accenture worth $1,941,219,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in ACN. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its holdings in Accenture by 1.2% during the 2nd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 10,912,962 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $3,311,102,000 after buying an additional 131,544 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc raised its holdings in shares of Accenture by 1.4% during the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 5,887,266 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $1,786,256,000 after acquiring an additional 80,514 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Accenture by 1.2% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 4,823,754 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $1,705,100,000 after acquiring an additional 56,937 shares in the last quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC boosted its stake in Accenture by 44.7% in the 2nd quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 2,709,989 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $822,238,000 after purchasing an additional 837,677 shares during the period. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its position in Accenture by 6.1% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,681,940 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $813,743,000 after purchasing an additional 154,328 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.14% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Accenture

In other news, COO John F. Walsh sold 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, October 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $373.24, for a total transaction of $1,866,200.00. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 17,593 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,566,411.32. The trade was a 22.13 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CAO Melissa A. Burgum sold 458 shares of Accenture 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 sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 9,777 shares in the company, valued at $3,649,265.25. This represents a 4.47 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 36,298 shares of company stock worth $13,372,661 over the last three months. Company insiders own 0.07% of the company’s stock.

Accenture Stock Down 0.3 %

Shares of NYSE:ACN opened at $362.23 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $226.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.69, a PEG ratio of 3.16 and a beta of 1.25. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $357.61 and a 200 day moving average price of $330.24. Accenture plc has a twelve month low of $278.69 and a twelve month high of $387.51.

Accenture (NYSE:ACN) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, September 26th. The information technology services provider reported $2.79 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.78 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $16.41 billion for 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%. Accenture’s quarterly revenue was up 2.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $2.71 earnings per share. Analysts anticipate that Accenture plc will post 12.77 EPS for the current year.

Accenture announced that its board has authorized a stock repurchase plan on Thursday, September 26th that authorizes the company to repurchase $4.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the information technology services provider to purchase up to 1.8% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are generally an indication that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Accenture Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, October 10th were given a dividend of $1.48 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, October 10th. This is an increase from Accenture’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.29. This represents a $5.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.63%. Accenture’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 51.79%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

ACN has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Piper Sandler Companies reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $329.00 target price on shares of Accenture in a research report on Friday, September 20th. BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on Accenture from $380.00 to $390.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, September 27th. Barclays upped their price target on shares of Accenture from $350.00 to $415.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, September 30th. Robert W. Baird lifted their price objective on Accenture from $350.00 to $370.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, September 27th. Finally, Guggenheim raised their price target on Accenture from $380.00 to $395.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, September 27th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $368.23.

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.