Accenture PLC $ACN Stock: Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. Trims Position

Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. lowered its holdings in Accenture PLC (NYSE:ACN) by 5.6% during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 106,767 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock after selling 6,282 shares during the quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc.’s holdings in Accenture were worth $19,578,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of ACN. Bank of America Corp DE grew its stake in Accenture by 2.2% in the 1st quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 6,531,231 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $1,295,078,000 after buying an additional 143,483 shares in the last quarter. First Trust Advisors LP lifted its position in shares of Accenture by 120.0% during the first quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 3,482,150 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $690,475,000 after acquiring an additional 1,899,305 shares in the last quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Accenture by 84.0% in the first quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC now owns 2,405,683 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $477,023,000 after acquiring an additional 1,097,961 shares during the period. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company boosted its holdings in shares of Accenture by 24.3% in the first quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 2,384,954 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $472,913,000 after acquiring an additional 466,452 shares during the period. Finally, Artemis Investment Management LLP boosted its holdings in shares of Accenture by 67.6% in the third quarter. Artemis Investment Management LLP now owns 2,196,789 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $402,825,000 after acquiring an additional 885,687 shares during the period. 75.14% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

ACN has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Susquehanna boosted their price objective on Accenture from $210.00 to $230.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 15th. BMO Capital Markets set a $235.00 price objective on Accenture in a report on Friday, October 2nd. Jefferies Financial Group set a $220.00 target price on Accenture in a research note on Friday, October 2nd. Evercore set a $250.00 target price on Accenture and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 1st. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada upped their price target on Accenture from $175.00 to $240.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, October 2nd. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seventeen have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Accenture currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $221.07.

Accenture Price Performance

ACN stock opened at $247.26 on Tuesday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $195.83 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $193.24. The stock has a market cap of $146.14 billion, a PE ratio of 18.23, a P/E/G ratio of 1.92 and a beta of 1.11. Accenture PLC has a one year low of $118.15 and a one year high of $291.09. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a current ratio of 1.43 and a quick ratio of 1.43.

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

Accenture Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 13th. Investors of record on Tuesday, October 13th will be paid a $1.71 dividend. This is a boost from Accenture’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.63. This represents a $6.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, October 13th. Accenture’s payout ratio is currently 50.44%.

Insider Transactions at Accenture

In other Accenture news, COO Catherine Hogan sold 700 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $214.24, for a total transaction of $149,968.00. Following the sale, the chief operating officer owned 11,856 shares in the company, valued at $2,540,029.44. This trade represents a 5.58% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CAO Melissa Burgum sold 811 shares of Accenture stock in a transaction dated Thursday, October 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $250.00, for a total value of $202,750.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 9,820 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,455,000. This trade represents a 7.63% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 19,173 shares of company stock worth $3,758,527. Company insiders own 0.02% of the company’s stock.

About Accenture

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.