Matrix Trust Co Purchases New Position in Accenture PLC $ACN

Matrix Trust Co bought a new position in Accenture PLC (NYSE:ACN) in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund bought 3,721 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $682,000.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of ACN. Moody National Bank Trust Division acquired a new stake in shares of Accenture in the third quarter worth about $308,000. GoalFusion Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Accenture in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $233,000. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton lifted its holdings in Accenture by 83.6% in the 3rd quarter. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton now owns 279 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $51,000 after purchasing an additional 127 shares during the last quarter. Box Hill Private Wealth LLC acquired a new position in Accenture during the third quarter valued at approximately $1,083,000. Finally, Ridgewood Investments LLC bought a new position in shares of Accenture in the third quarter valued at approximately $208,000. 75.14% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms recently issued reports on ACN. BMO Capital Markets set a $235.00 target price on shares of Accenture in a research note on Friday, October 2nd. Wolfe Research lifted their price objective on Accenture from $165.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 25th. Mizuho increased their target price on Accenture from $226.00 to $241.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday. TD Cowen lifted their price target on Accenture from $173.00 to $193.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 1st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on Accenture from $179.00 to $200.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, September 25th. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fourteen have issued a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $219.15.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Accenture news, General Counsel Joel Unruch sold 10,498 shares of Accenture stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $162.98, for a total transaction of $1,710,964.04. Following the sale, the general counsel directly owned 17,735 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,890,450.30. The trade was a 37.18% 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. 0.02% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Accenture Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:ACN traded up $4.35 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $197.75. 1,797,154 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 6,970,953. The company has a market capitalization of $132.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.53, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.61 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. Accenture PLC has a 1-year low of $118.15 and a 1-year high of $291.09. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $182.31 and its 200-day simple moving average is $173.42.

Accenture (NYSE:ACN) last issued its 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. The firm had revenue of $18.68 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $18.03 billion. Accenture had a return on equity of 26.53% and a net margin of 11.28%.Accenture’s quarterly revenue was up 6.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned $3.03 earnings per share. Accenture has set its FY 2027 guidance at 14.390-14.810 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that Accenture PLC will post 14.66 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Accenture Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 13th. Investors of record on Tuesday, October 13th will be given a $1.71 dividend. This represents a $6.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.5%. This is a boost from Accenture’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.63. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, October 13th. Accenture’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 48.08%.

Accenture declared that its board has initiated a stock repurchase program on Tuesday, June 23rd that authorizes the company to buyback $2.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the information technology services provider to repurchase up to 2.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are usually a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

About Accenture

Accenture plc (NYSE: ACN) is a global professional services company that helps organizations improve performance, modernize operations and respond to technological and market changes. Its services span strategy and consulting, technology, operations, and managed services, with expertise across industries including communications, financial services, health care, public service, retail, manufacturing and resources.

The company provides digital transformation, cloud migration, data and artificial intelligence, cybersecurity, systems integration and technology implementation services.