Accenture PLC $ACN Shares Sold by Avior Wealth Management LLC

Key Points

• Avior Wealth Management cut its Accenture stake by 87.3% in the second quarter, selling 11,350 shares and retaining 1,646 shares valued at approximately $205,000. Institutional investors collectively own 75.14% of Accenture.
• Accenture reported quarterly EPS of $3.80, beating estimates by $0.10, while revenue rose 5.6% year over year to $18.72 billion. The company also authorized a $2 billion share-buyback program and declared a quarterly dividend of $1.63 per share.
• Analyst sentiment remains mixed, with a consensus “Hold” rating and an average price target of $192.96, compared with the stock’s cited price of $175.49.

Avior Wealth Management LLC trimmed its position in shares of Accenture PLC (NYSE:ACN - Free Report) by 87.3% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 1,646 shares of the information technology services provider's stock after selling 11,350 shares during the quarter. Avior Wealth Management LLC's holdings in Accenture were worth $205,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in ACN. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in Accenture by 1.3% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 66,070,930 shares of the information technology services provider's stock worth $17,726,831,000 after acquiring an additional 854,361 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its position in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 129,610 shares during the last quarter. Capital International Investors increased its stake in shares of Accenture by 2.0% during the 4th quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 17,471,554 shares of the information technology services provider's stock worth $4,687,867,000 after purchasing an additional 343,420 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Accenture by 1.5% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 14,656,436 shares of the information technology services provider's stock worth $3,922,212,000 after purchasing an additional 218,719 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its stake in Accenture by 15.9% in the 4th quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 8,173,338 shares of the information technology services provider's stock valued at $2,192,907,000 after buying an additional 1,122,855 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.14% of the company's stock.

Accenture Trading Down 0.1%

Shares of ACN opened at $175.49 on Monday. 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 $117.20 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.02, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.82 and a beta of 1.09. The company has a current ratio of 1.34, a quick ratio of 1.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $151.64 and its 200 day simple moving average is $186.45.

Accenture (NYSE:ACN - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, June 19th. The information technology services provider reported $3.80 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates 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 quarter in the previous year, the business earned $3.49 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Accenture PLC will post 13.85 earnings per share for the current year.

Accenture declared that its board has authorized a stock buyback plan on Tuesday, June 23rd that allows the company to buyback $2.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the information technology services provider to reacquire up to 2.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are generally a sign that the company's management believes its stock is undervalued.

Accenture Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 14th. Investors of record on Thursday, July 9th will be given a dividend of $1.63 per share. This represents a $6.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, July 9th. Accenture's dividend payout ratio is 52.08%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Accenture news, General Counsel Joel Unruch sold 10,498 shares of Accenture stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, 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 ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders own 0.02% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have weighed in on ACN shares. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price target on Accenture from $315.00 to $270.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, June 3rd. BNP Paribas Exane decreased their price objective on Accenture from $180.00 to $130.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, June 26th. Oppenheimer set a $201.00 target price on shares of Accenture in a research note on Monday, June 8th. Robert W. Baird set a $190.00 target price on shares of Accenture in a report on Thursday, June 18th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group lowered their price target on shares of Accenture from $210.00 to $185.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a report on Monday, June 15th. Twelve investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fourteen have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $192.96.

About Accenture

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.

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