Insider Buying: Accenture (NYSE:ACN) CEO Acquires $3,001,078.00 in Stock

Accenture PLC (NYSE:ACN) CEO Julie Sweet purchased 12,200 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 26th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $245.99 per share, with a total value of $3,001,078.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 48,910 shares in the company, valued at $12,031,370.90. This trade represents a 33.23% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website.

Accenture Trading Down 4.8%

Shares of NYSE ACN opened at $235.27 on Wednesday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $198.54 and a 200 day moving average price of $192.91. Accenture PLC has a 12-month low of $118.15 and a 12-month high of $291.09.

Accenture (NYSE:ACN) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, October 1st. The information technology services provider reported $3.29 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.18 by $0.11. The company had revenue of $18.68 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $18.03 billion. Accenture’s quarterly revenue was up 6.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $3.03 EPS. Accenture has set its FY 2027 guidance at 14.390-14.810 EPS. On average, equities analysts expect that Accenture PLC will post 14.68 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Accenture Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 13th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, October 13th will be given a $1.71 dividend. This represents a $6.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, October 13th. This is an increase from Accenture’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.63.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on ACN shares. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target on shares of Accenture from $230.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 1st. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Accenture from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 21st. Stifel Nicolaus set a $242.00 price objective on shares of Accenture in a research note on Thursday, October 15th. Guggenheim reissued a “neutral” rating on shares of Accenture in a report on Friday, October 2nd. Finally, Wolfe Research boosted their target price on shares of Accenture from $165.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 25th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seventeen have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $221.07.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Financial Network Wealth Advisors LLC grew its stake in Accenture by 587.5% during the 3rd quarter. Financial Network Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 220 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $40,000 after buying an additional 188 shares during the last quarter. TOWER TRUST & INVESTMENT Co lifted its stake in Accenture by 6.3% in the third quarter. TOWER TRUST & INVESTMENT Co now owns 1,910 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $350,000 after buying an additional 113 shares during the last quarter. Childress Capital Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Accenture by 87.6% during the third quarter. Childress Capital Advisors LLC now owns 4,180 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $766,000 after acquiring an additional 1,952 shares during the period. D.A. Davidson & CO. boosted its holdings in shares of Accenture by 22.0% during the third quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. now owns 390,176 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $71,547,000 after acquiring an additional 70,367 shares during the period. Finally, LaFleur & Godfrey LLC grew its position in shares of Accenture by 19.1% during the third quarter. LaFleur & Godfrey LLC now owns 4,959 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $909,000 after acquiring an additional 797 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.14% 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.