Rare Wolf Capital LLC Makes New $913,000 Investment in Accenture PLC $ACN

Rare Wolf Capital LLC purchased a new position in shares of Accenture PLC (NYSE:ACN) during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund purchased 4,978 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $913,000.

A number of other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Flossbach Von Storch SE bought a new position in shares of Accenture in the 2nd quarter valued at about $309,873,000. First Trust Advisors LP increased its stake in shares of Accenture by 120.0% during the 1st quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 3,482,150 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $690,475,000 after purchasing an additional 1,899,305 shares during the last quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Accenture by 84.0% in the 1st quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC now owns 2,405,683 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $477,023,000 after purchasing an additional 1,097,961 shares during the period. Artemis Investment Management LLP raised its holdings in shares of Accenture by 67.6% in the 3rd quarter. Artemis Investment Management LLP now owns 2,196,789 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $402,825,000 after purchasing an additional 885,687 shares during the period. Finally, Davis Asset Management L.P. acquired a new stake in Accenture in the 2nd quarter valued at about $92,086,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.14% of the company’s stock.

Accenture Stock Performance

NYSE ACN opened at $239.16 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $159.71 billion, a PE ratio of 17.64, a P/E/G ratio of 1.95 and a beta of 1.11. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a quick ratio of 1.34 and a current ratio of 1.43. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $191.75 and a 200-day moving average of $174.95. 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, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.18 by $0.11. Accenture had a net margin of 11.28% and a return on equity of 26.53%. The business had revenue of $18.68 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $18.03 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $3.03 EPS. Accenture’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, sell-side analysts anticipate that Accenture PLC will post 14.68 EPS for the current year.

Accenture Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 13th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, October 13th will be issued a dividend of $1.71 per share. 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 dividend yield of 2.9%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, October 13th. Accenture’s dividend payout ratio is presently 50.44%.

Accenture declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share repurchase plan on Tuesday, June 23rd that permits the company to buy back $2.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the information technology services provider to buy up to 2.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Share repurchase plans are usually an indication that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ACN has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. BMO Capital Markets set a $235.00 price target on Accenture in a report on Friday, October 2nd. Argus boosted their price target on Accenture from $220.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, October 2nd. TD Cowen upped their price objective on Accenture from $193.00 to $201.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 15th. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on Accenture from $175.00 to $195.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, October 2nd. Finally, Truist Financial raised their price objective on Accenture from $150.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, October 2nd. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fourteen have issued a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $219.52.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, COO Catherine Hogan sold 700 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $214.24, for a total value of $149,968.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer owned 11,856 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,540,029.44. This represents a 5.58% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, General Counsel Joel Unruch sold 10,498 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $162.98, for a total value of $1,710,964.04. Following the transaction, the general counsel owned 17,735 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,890,450.30. This trade represents a 37.18% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 12,518 shares of company stock valued at $2,124,932. Corporate 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.