Stock Traders Buy High Volume of Call Options on Accenture (NYSE:ACN)

Accenture PLC (NYSE:ACN) saw some unusual options trading activity on Monday. Investors acquired 58,099 call options on the company. This represents an increase of approximately 248% compared to the average volume of 16,712 call options.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on ACN shares. Jefferies Financial Group set a $220.00 price target on Accenture in a research report on Friday, October 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company restated a “reduce” rating on shares of Accenture in a research note on Friday, October 2nd. William Blair downgraded Accenture from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, June 18th. TD Cowen boosted their target price on Accenture from $173.00 to $193.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, October 1st. Finally, UBS Group reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Accenture in a research report on Wednesday, September 30th. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fourteen have assigned a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $219.15.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, General Counsel Joel Unruch sold 10,498 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $162.98, for a total transaction of $1,710,964.04. Following the completion of the sale, the general counsel directly owned 17,735 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,890,450.30. The trade was a 37.18% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, COO Catherine Hogan sold 1,320 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $200.00, for a total value of $264,000.00. Following the sale, the chief operating officer owned 12,556 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,511,200. The trade was a 9.51% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. 0.02% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Accenture

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of ACN. HF Advisory Group LLC lifted its holdings in Accenture by 197.8% in the 3rd quarter. HF Advisory Group LLC now owns 13,434 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $2,463,000 after buying an additional 8,923 shares in the last quarter. jvl associates llc boosted its position in Accenture by 5.8% in the 3rd quarter. jvl associates llc now owns 4,239 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $777,000 after buying an additional 232 shares during the last quarter. Valley Wealth Managers Inc. grew its stake in shares of Accenture by 5.3% during the third quarter. Valley Wealth Managers Inc. now owns 91,990 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $16,868,000 after acquiring an additional 4,637 shares in the last quarter. Stokes Capital Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Accenture by 1.1% during the third quarter. Stokes Capital Advisors LLC now owns 20,597 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $3,777,000 after acquiring an additional 215 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sound Income Strategies LLC grew its stake in shares of Accenture by 3.1% during the third quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC now owns 113,209 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $20,759,000 after acquiring an additional 3,357 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.14% of the company’s stock.

Accenture Stock Up 2.8%

NYSE:ACN traded up $5.80 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $214.86. The company had a trading volume of 6,388,850 shares, compared to its average volume of 7,001,594. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $184.52 and a 200-day simple moving average of $173.50. The company has a current ratio of 1.43, a quick ratio of 1.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31. Accenture has a 1 year low of $118.15 and a 1 year high of $291.09. The firm has a market capitalization of $143.48 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.84, a PEG ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 1.11.

Accenture (NYSE:ACN) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 1st. The information technology services provider reported $3.29 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.18 by $0.11. Accenture had a return on equity of 26.53% and a net margin of 11.28%. The company had revenue of $18.68 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $18.03 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $3.03 earnings per share. The firm’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. Equities analysts forecast that Accenture will post 14.68 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Accenture Increases Dividend

The business 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 dividend of $1.71 per share. This is a boost from Accenture’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.63. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, October 13th. This represents a $6.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.2%. Accenture’s dividend payout ratio is presently 50.44%.

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