Accenture PLC $ACN Shares Acquired by Birch Capital Management LLC

Birch Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Accenture PLC (NYSE:ACN) by 39.7% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 34,920 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock after buying an additional 9,915 shares during the quarter. Accenture comprises about 2.1% of Birch Capital Management LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 18th largest position. Birch Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Accenture were worth $4,345,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in ACN. State Street Corp lifted its holdings in Accenture by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 28,264,675 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $7,583,462,000 after acquiring an additional 129,610 shares during the period. Capital International Investors lifted its holdings in Accenture by 2.0% in the 4th quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 17,471,554 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $4,687,867,000 after purchasing an additional 343,420 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Accenture by 1.5% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 14,656,436 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $3,922,212,000 after acquiring an additional 218,719 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Accenture by 15.9% during the 4th quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 8,173,338 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $2,192,907,000 after acquiring an additional 1,122,855 shares during the period. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Accenture in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $2,146,995,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.14% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have weighed in on ACN. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of Accenture from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a report on Thursday, July 9th. Dbs Bank lowered Accenture from a “moderate buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 23rd. UBS Group reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Accenture in a report on Wednesday, August 26th. Berenberg Bank dropped their price target on Accenture from $273.00 to $220.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, June 17th. Finally, Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on Accenture from $177.00 to $130.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, June 22nd. Twelve investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fourteen have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $194.19.

Accenture Stock Performance

NYSE:ACN opened at $188.08 on Wednesday. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $158.25 and its 200 day simple moving average is $177.25. The company has a current ratio of 1.34, a quick ratio of 1.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15. Accenture PLC has a twelve month low of $118.15 and a twelve month high of $291.09. The firm has a market capitalization of $125.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.02, a PEG ratio of 1.61 and a beta of 1.10.

Accenture (NYSE:ACN) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, June 19th. The information technology services provider reported $3.80 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.70 by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $18.72 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $18.78 billion. Accenture had a return on equity of 26.47% and a net margin of 10.66%.The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 5.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $3.49 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Accenture PLC will post 13.86 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Accenture Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 14th. Investors of record on Thursday, July 9th were issued a dividend of $1.63 per share. This represents a $6.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.5%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, July 9th. Accenture’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 52.08%.

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, General Counsel Joel Unruch sold 10,498 shares of the business’s 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 transaction, 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 position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Company insiders own 0.02% of the company’s stock.

Accenture Profile

Accenture is a global professional services company that provides a broad range of services and solutions in strategy, consulting, digital, technology and operations. The firm works with organizations across industries to design and implement business transformation programs, deploy and manage enterprise technology, optimize operations, and develop customer and digital experiences. Its offerings encompass management and technology consulting, systems integration, application and infrastructure services, cloud migration and managed services, as well as security and analytics capabilities.

The company delivers industry- and function-specific solutions, combining consulting expertise with proprietary tools, platforms and partnerships with major technology vendors.