Accenture PLC $ACN Holdings Cut by Handelsbanken Fonder AB

Handelsbanken Fonder AB cut its stake in shares of Accenture PLC (NYSE:ACN) by 8.2% in the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 214,556 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock after selling 19,288 shares during the quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB’s holdings in Accenture were worth $26,699,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Orrstown Financial Services Inc. grew its position in shares of Accenture by 5.4% during the second quarter. Orrstown Financial Services Inc. now owns 3,913 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $487,000 after acquiring an additional 199 shares during the last quarter. Community Financial Services Group LLC boosted its position in shares of Accenture by 795.4% during the second quarter. Community Financial Services Group LLC now owns 582 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $76,000 after buying an additional 517 shares during the period. Fulton Bank N.A. increased its holdings in shares of Accenture by 50.2% during the second quarter. Fulton Bank N.A. now owns 15,604 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $1,942,000 after purchasing an additional 5,217 shares during the period. Franklin Street Advisors Inc. NC grew its position in Accenture by 28.8% in the 2nd quarter. Franklin Street Advisors Inc. NC now owns 2,543 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $316,000 after buying an additional 569 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Alliance Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Accenture during the 2nd quarter valued at about $220,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.14% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have recently commented on ACN shares. Robert W. Baird set a $190.00 price objective on Accenture in a research note on Thursday, June 18th. Evercore set a $180.00 price objective on shares of Accenture in a research note on Thursday, June 18th. DA Davidson reduced their target price on Accenture from $275.00 to $175.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, June 23rd. BNP Paribas Exane decreased their target price on Accenture from $180.00 to $130.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, June 26th. Finally, Guggenheim lowered their price objective on shares of Accenture from $225.00 to $185.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, June 22nd. Twelve analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fourteen have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Accenture presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $192.96.

Insider Activity at Accenture

In related news, General Counsel Joel Unruch sold 10,498 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $162.98, for a total value of $1,710,964.04. Following the completion of the sale, 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 ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Corporate insiders own 0.02% of the company’s stock.

Accenture Stock Up 0.0%

Accenture stock opened at $179.89 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $120.13 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.37, a P/E/G ratio of 1.86 and a beta of 1.09. Accenture PLC has a 1-year low of $118.15 and a 1-year high of $291.09. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $151.19 and its 200-day simple moving average is $184.33. 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 (NYSE:ACN) last posted its earnings results on Friday, June 19th. The information technology services provider reported $3.80 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.70 by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $18.72 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $18.78 billion. Accenture had a net margin of 10.66% and a return on equity of 26.47%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 5.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $3.49 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that Accenture PLC will post 13.85 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Accenture Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 14th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, July 9th will be given a $1.63 dividend. This represents a $6.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, July 9th. Accenture’s dividend payout ratio is currently 52.08%.

Accenture declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share buyback plan 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 shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are typically an indication that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

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.