Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC Purchases 262,152 Shares of Accenture PLC $ACN

Key Points

• Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC increased its stake in Accenture PLC by 110.0%, owning approximately 500,447 shares valued at $152.5 million.
• Approximately 75.14% of Accenture's stock is currently held by institutional investors and hedge funds, reflecting strong confidence in the company.
• Accenture recently reported a 7.7% increase in revenue year-over-year, with earnings per share surpassing estimates at $3.49, compared to the expected $3.32.

Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC grew its holdings in shares of Accenture PLC (NYSE:ACN - Free Report) by 110.0% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 500,447 shares of the information technology services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 262,152 shares during the period. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC owned approximately 0.08% of Accenture worth $152,526,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Mpwm Advisory Solutions LLC purchased a new position in shares of Accenture during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Park Square Financial Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Accenture during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Capital A Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Accenture during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Kelly Lawrence W & Associates Inc. CA bought a new stake in Accenture in the 1st quarter worth approximately $31,000. Finally, Inlight Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Accenture in the 1st quarter worth approximately $32,000. 75.14% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Accenture Price Performance

Shares of Accenture stock traded up $1.10 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $240.65. The company's stock had a trading volume of 11,449,719 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,980,534. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $257.73 and a 200-day moving average price of $289.38. Accenture PLC has a one year low of $234.18 and a one year high of $398.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 1.46 and a quick ratio of 1.46. The stock has a market cap of $150.73 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.16, a P/E/G ratio of 2.07 and a beta of 1.29.

Accenture (NYSE:ACN - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, June 20th. The information technology services provider reported $3.49 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.32 by $0.17. The company had revenue of $17.73 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $17.26 billion. Accenture had a net margin of 11.61% and a return on equity of 26.55%. The firm's revenue was up 7.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $3.13 EPS. On average, analysts predict that Accenture PLC will post 12.73 EPS for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have commented on ACN. HSBC began coverage on shares of Accenture in a research report on Monday, July 28th. They issued a "reduce" rating and a $240.00 target price for the company. Argus set a $370.00 target price on shares of Accenture in a research report on Tuesday, June 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on shares of Accenture from $334.00 to $302.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, August 20th. Robert W. Baird cut their target price on shares of Accenture from $372.00 to $350.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, September 16th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price target on shares of Accenture from $355.00 to $315.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, September 16th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have issued a Buy rating, eight have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Accenture currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $335.39.

Insider Activity at Accenture

In related news, insider Angela Beatty sold 203 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $282.34, for a total transaction of $57,315.02. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 5,249 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,482,002.66. This represents a 3.72% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Julie Spellman Sweet sold 2,251 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $282.45, for a total transaction of $635,794.95. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 8,109 shares in the company, valued at $2,290,387.05. The trade was a 21.73% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 2,954 shares of company stock worth $834,280. Insiders own 0.02% of the company's stock.

About Accenture

Accenture plc, a professional services company, provides strategy and consulting, industry X, song, and technology and operation services worldwide. The company offers application services, including agile transformation, DevOps, application modernization, enterprise architecture, software and quality engineering, data management; intelligent automation comprising robotic process automation, natural language processing, and virtual agents; and application management services, as well as software engineering services; strategy and consulting services; data and analytics strategy, data discovery and augmentation, data management and beyond, data democratization, and industrialized solutions comprising turnkey analytics and artificial intelligence (AI) solutions; metaverse; and sustainability services.