Accenture (NYSE:ACN) Stock: Insider Atsushi Egawa Sells 10,000 Shares

Accenture PLC (NYSE:ACN) CEO Atsushi Egawa sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $270.00, for a total value of $2,700,000.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 5,996 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,618,920. This represents a 62.52% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan.

Accenture Stock Up 0.7%

Shares of Accenture stock traded up $1.91 during trading on Thursday, reaching $266.18. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 8,197,238 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,976,674. Accenture PLC has a 1-year low of $118.15 and a 1-year high of $291.09. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $207.19 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $192.07. The company has a quick ratio of 1.43, a current ratio of 1.43 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31. The company has a market cap of $157.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.63, a P/E/G ratio of 1.96 and a beta of 1.01.

Accenture (NYSE:ACN) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, October 1st. The information technology services provider reported $3.29 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.18 by $0.11. The company had revenue of $18.68 billion for 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 firm’s quarterly revenue was up 6.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $3.03 EPS. Accenture has set its FY 2027 guidance at 14.390-14.810 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Accenture PLC will post 14.68 earnings per share for the current year.

Accenture Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 13th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, October 13th will be paid a dividend of $1.71 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, October 13th. This is an increase from Accenture’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.63. This represents a $6.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.6%. Accenture’s payout ratio is presently 50.44%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ACN has been the topic of several research reports. Guggenheim reissued a “neutral” rating on shares of Accenture in a research report on Friday, October 2nd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their target price on Accenture from $136.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, September 18th. Mizuho lifted their price target on Accenture from $226.00 to $241.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on Accenture from $179.00 to $200.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, September 25th. Finally, Weiss Ratings raised Accenture from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 21st. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seventeen have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Accenture currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $221.07.

Institutional Trading of Accenture

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Davis Investment Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Accenture during the third quarter worth $1,721,000. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund increased its holdings in shares of Accenture by 6.4% in the 3rd quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund now owns 115,057 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $21,098,000 after acquiring an additional 6,957 shares during the last quarter. Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Accenture by 117.9% during the 3rd quarter. Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC now owns 29,446 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $5,400,000 after acquiring an additional 15,935 shares in the last quarter. Confluence Wealth Services Inc. lifted its stake in Accenture by 8.2% during the third quarter. Confluence Wealth Services Inc. now owns 8,295 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $1,521,000 after purchasing an additional 630 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Moneco Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Accenture during the third quarter worth approximately $226,000. 75.14% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Accenture Company 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.