Insider Selling: Accenture (NYSE:ACN) CEO Sells 10,000 Shares of Company Stock

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

Accenture Stock Up 0.7%

Shares of NYSE ACN traded up $1.91 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $266.18. The company had a trading volume of 8,197,238 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,976,674. The company has a current ratio of 1.43, a quick ratio of 1.43 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $207.19 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $192.07. The stock has a market cap of $157.33 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.63, a PEG ratio of 1.96 and a beta of 1.01. Accenture PLC has a 52-week low of $118.15 and a 52-week high of $291.09.

Accenture (NYSE:ACN) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 1st. The information technology services provider reported $3.29 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 analyst estimates of $18.03 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $3.03 EPS. Accenture’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Accenture has set its FY 2027 guidance at 14.390-14.810 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that Accenture PLC will post 14.68 earnings per share for the current year.

Accenture Increases Dividend

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

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts recently issued reports on the company. Citigroup upped their target price on Accenture from $135.00 to $190.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, August 24th. UBS Group set a $278.00 price objective on Accenture 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of Accenture from $179.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, September 25th. Finally, Mizuho lifted their target price on shares of Accenture from $226.00 to $241.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 6th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seventeen have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Accenture currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $221.07.

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.