Willis Investment Counsel Sells 8,648 Shares of Accenture PLC $ACN

Willis Investment Counsel lowered its holdings in shares of Accenture PLC (NYSE:ACN) by 3.3% in the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 257,325 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock after selling 8,648 shares during the period. Accenture makes up approximately 2.1% of Willis Investment Counsel’s holdings, making the stock its 10th largest holding. Willis Investment Counsel’s holdings in Accenture were worth $47,186,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in ACN. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd grew its holdings in Accenture by 13.7% in the third quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd now owns 173,781 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $31,866,000 after purchasing an additional 20,986 shares during the period. CFS Investment Advisory Services LLC acquired a new position in shares of Accenture during the third quarter valued at about $627,000. Investment Research Partners LLC raised its holdings in shares of Accenture by 7.3% during the third quarter. Investment Research Partners LLC now owns 4,884 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $896,000 after purchasing an additional 332 shares during the period. Smithbridge Asset Management Inc. DE boosted its position in shares of Accenture by 2.7% during the 3rd quarter. Smithbridge Asset Management Inc. DE now owns 27,813 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $5,100,000 after purchasing an additional 733 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Blue Zone Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Accenture during the 3rd quarter worth about $237,000. 75.14% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Accenture Stock Up 1.1%

NYSE ACN traded up $2.71 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $239.64. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 3,439,250 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,987,367. Accenture PLC has a 52 week low of $118.15 and a 52 week high of $291.09. The company has a market capitalization of $160.04 billion, a PE ratio of 17.68, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.89 and a beta of 1.11. The company has a current ratio of 1.43, a quick ratio of 1.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $190.56 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $174.65.

Accenture (NYSE:ACN) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 1st. The information technology services provider reported $3.29 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.18 by $0.11. The firm had revenue of $18.68 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $18.03 billion. Accenture had a return on equity of 26.53% and a net margin of 11.28%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $3.03 EPS. Accenture has set its FY 2027 guidance at 14.390-14.810 EPS. Research analysts anticipate that Accenture PLC will post 14.68 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Accenture declared that its board has authorized a share repurchase plan on Tuesday, June 23rd that permits the company to buy back $2.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the information technology services provider to repurchase up to 2.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Share buyback plans are usually a sign that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Accenture Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 13th. Investors of record on Tuesday, October 13th will be given a dividend of $1.71 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, October 13th. This is a positive change from Accenture’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.63. This represents a $6.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.9%. Accenture’s payout ratio is presently 50.44%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Accenture

In other Accenture news, General Counsel Joel Unruch sold 10,498 shares of Accenture stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $162.98, for a total transaction of $1,710,964.04. Following the transaction, the general counsel directly owned 17,735 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,890,450.30. The trade was a 37.18% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, COO Catherine Hogan sold 700 shares of Accenture stock in a transaction on Monday, October 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $214.24, for a total transaction of $149,968.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer directly owned 11,856 shares in the company, valued at $2,540,029.44. This represents a 5.58% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold 12,518 shares of company stock valued at $2,124,932 in the last quarter. 0.02% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently commented on ACN. Wolfe Research boosted their target price on Accenture from $165.00 to $215.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 25th. Dbs Bank lowered Accenture from a “moderate buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, June 23rd. Mizuho raised their price objective on Accenture from $226.00 to $241.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 6th. Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d+)” rating on shares of Accenture in a report on Tuesday, October 6th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus set a $242.00 target price on Accenture in a research report on Thursday. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fourteen have assigned a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $219.26.

Accenture Profile

Accenture plc is a global professional services company that helps organizations transform their businesses through consulting, technology and managed services. Its work spans strategy and consulting, technology implementation, operations, and interactive customer experiences.

The company provides services in areas including cloud computing, artificial intelligence, cybersecurity, data and analytics, digital engineering, enterprise software, systems integration and business process outsourcing.