Stoneridge Investment Partners LLC Acquires Shares of 3,174 Accenture PLC $ACN

Stoneridge Investment Partners LLC bought a new position in Accenture PLC (NYSE:ACN) during the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor bought 3,174 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $527,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Triumph Capital Management purchased a new stake in shares of Accenture during the third quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Accenture in the 4th quarter worth approximately $27,000. McMillan Office Inc. bought a new position in Accenture in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $27,000. University of Texas Texas AM Investment Management Co. bought a new position in Accenture in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Finally, Dogwood Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in Accenture by 147.1% during the 2nd quarter. Dogwood Wealth Management LLC now owns 215 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 128 shares during the last quarter. 75.14% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Accenture

In other news, General Counsel Joel Unruch sold 10,498 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 owned 17,735 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,890,450.30. This represents a 37.18% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. 0.02% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently weighed in on ACN. UBS Group restated a “buy” rating and issued a $275.00 price target on shares of Accenture in a research note on Wednesday, July 8th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reaffirmed a “hold” rating and set a $136.00 price objective on shares of Accenture in a research report on Friday, July 10th. BNP Paribas Exane reduced their price objective on Accenture from $180.00 to $130.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Friday, June 26th. BMO Capital Markets restated a “market perform” rating and set a $150.00 target price on shares of Accenture in a research note on Friday, June 19th. Finally, Wolfe Research reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $200.00 price target on shares of Accenture in a report on Tuesday, June 16th. Twelve equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fourteen have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $192.96.

Accenture Price Performance

NYSE ACN opened at $176.60 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $117.94 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.11, a PEG ratio of 1.83 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 company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a current ratio of 1.34 and a quick ratio of 1.34. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $151.15 and its 200-day moving average price is $183.56.

Accenture (NYSE:ACN) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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 company had revenue of $18.72 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $18.78 billion. Accenture had a return on equity of 26.47% and a net margin of 10.66%.Accenture’s revenue was up 5.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $3.49 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts predict that Accenture PLC will post 13.85 earnings per share for the current year.

Accenture declared that its Board of Directors has approved 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 repurchase up to 2.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are generally an indication that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Accenture Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 14th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, July 9th were paid a dividend of $1.63 per share. This represents a $6.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.7%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, July 9th. Accenture’s payout ratio is currently 52.08%.

Accenture Company 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.