19,720 Accenture PLC $ACN Shares Bought by IFG Advisory LLC

IFG Advisory LLC increased its stake in Accenture PLC (NYSE:ACN) by 117.7% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 36,476 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 19,720 shares during the quarter. IFG Advisory LLC’s holdings in Accenture were worth $6,689,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. IMG Wealth Management Inc. boosted its stake in Accenture by 134.8% during the first quarter. IMG Wealth Management Inc. now owns 155 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $31,000 after acquiring an additional 89 shares in the last quarter. Foresight Capital Management Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in Accenture in the third quarter valued at $31,000. Signature Equity Partners LLC increased its stake in Accenture by 50.9% in the third quarter. Signature Equity Partners LLC now owns 172 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 58 shares in the last quarter. Dogwood Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Accenture by 147.1% during the second quarter. Dogwood Wealth Management LLC now owns 215 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 128 shares during the period. Finally, Financial Network Wealth Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Accenture by 587.5% during the third quarter. Financial Network Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 220 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $40,000 after purchasing an additional 188 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.14% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Accenture

In other news, CEO Atsushi Egawa sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $270.00, for a total value of $2,700,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 5,996 shares in the company, valued at $1,618,920. This trade represents a 62.52% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, COO Catherine Hogan sold 1,320 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $200.00, for a total value of $264,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer owned 12,556 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,511,200. This trade represents a 9.51% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last three months, insiders have sold 18,675 shares of company stock worth $4,747,563. 0.02% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Accenture Stock Up 0.3%

Shares of Accenture stock traded up $0.85 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $250.80. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 3,400,376 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,925,131. Accenture PLC has a one year low of $118.15 and a one year high of $291.09. The company has a market capitalization of $148.23 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.50, a P/E/G ratio of 1.92 and a beta of 1.01. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $216.73 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $191.22. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a quick ratio of 1.43 and a current ratio of 1.43.

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

Accenture Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 13th. Investors of record on Tuesday, October 13th were given a $1.71 dividend. This represents a $6.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, October 13th. This is a positive change from Accenture’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.63. Accenture’s payout ratio is 50.44%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on ACN. TD Cowen increased their price objective on shares of Accenture from $193.00 to $201.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 15th. Truist Financial boosted their target price on Accenture from $150.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, October 2nd. Evercore set a $250.00 price target on Accenture and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 1st. Argus increased their price target on Accenture from $220.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, October 2nd. Finally, Guggenheim reiterated a “neutral” rating on shares of Accenture in a 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 company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Accenture currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $221.07.

About Accenture

Accenture plc is a global professional services company that helps businesses, governments and other organizations solve operational and technology challenges. Its work includes strategy and management consulting, digital transformation, systems integration and the design, implementation and management of technology solutions. The company serves clients across a broad range of industries and geographies. Its services span cloud computing, data and artificial intelligence, cybersecurity, software and platforms, business process operations, and digital marketing and customer experience.