Masso Torrence Wealth Management Inc. Increases Stock Holdings in Accenture plc (NYSE:ACN)

Masso Torrence Wealth Management Inc. boosted its position in Accenture plc (NYSE:ACN) by 16.6% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 1,117 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 159 shares during the period. Masso Torrence Wealth Management Inc.’s holdings in Accenture were worth $392,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of ACN. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Accenture by 3.2% in the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 1,690 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $531,000 after buying an additional 52 shares during the period. Park Place Capital Corp raised its stake in Accenture by 4.2% during the 3rd quarter. Park Place Capital Corp now owns 4,805 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $1,476,000 after purchasing an additional 193 shares during the period. Founders Financial Securities LLC bought a new stake in Accenture during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $327,000. Alhambra Investment Partners LLC raised its stake in Accenture by 2.3% during the 3rd quarter. Alhambra Investment Partners LLC now owns 2,338 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $718,000 after purchasing an additional 52 shares during the period. Finally, Mcrae Capital Management Inc. raised its stake in Accenture by 0.4% during the 3rd quarter. Mcrae Capital Management Inc. now owns 26,483 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $8,133,000 after purchasing an additional 101 shares during the period. 75.14% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Accenture Stock Performance

NYSE ACN traded down $0.59 on Tuesday, reaching $316.83. 1,213,648 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,375,543. The company has a market cap of $212.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.79, a PEG ratio of 3.00 and a beta of 1.19. Accenture plc has a 12 month low of $261.68 and a 12 month high of $387.51. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $354.21 and a 200-day moving average price of $342.37.

Accenture (NYSE:ACN) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 21st. The information technology services provider reported $2.77 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.66 by $0.11. The firm had revenue of $15.80 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $15.85 billion. Accenture had a return on equity of 28.30% and a net margin of 10.89%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down .1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.69 EPS. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Accenture plc will post 12.09 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Accenture Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 11th will be given a $1.29 dividend. This represents a $5.16 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.63%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, April 10th. Accenture’s payout ratio is 46.78%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have weighed in on ACN. Redburn Atlantic raised their price target on Accenture from $410.00 to $445.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 19th. Robert W. Baird raised their price target on Accenture from $364.00 to $375.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, March 7th. Guggenheim assumed coverage on Accenture in a report on Tuesday, March 19th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $425.00 target price for the company. Piper Sandler lifted their target price on Accenture from $335.00 to $394.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, March 18th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets dropped their target price on Accenture from $385.00 to $375.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, March 22nd. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $387.00.

Insider Transactions at Accenture

In related news, General Counsel Joel Unruch sold 4,333 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, April 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $316.12, for a total transaction of $1,369,747.96. Following the transaction, the general counsel now directly owns 30,702 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,705,516.24. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In related news, General Counsel Joel Unruch sold 4,333 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, April 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $316.12, for a total transaction of $1,369,747.96. Following the transaction, the general counsel now directly owns 30,702 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,705,516.24. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CAO Melissa A. Burgum sold 3,010 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $371.80, for a total value of $1,119,118.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 9,193 shares in the company, valued at $3,417,957.40. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 39,833 shares of company stock valued at $13,645,871. Corporate insiders own 0.07% of the company’s stock.

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.