Accenture PLC $ACN Shares Sold by Avity Investment Management Inc.

Key Points

• Avity Investment Management cut its Accenture stake by 95.8% in the second quarter, selling 75,955 shares and retaining 3,337 shares valued at approximately $415,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds collectively own 75.14% of ACN.
• Analyst sentiment is mixed, with a consensus “Hold” rating and an average price target of $192.96. Recent targets range from $150 to $200, while Accenture reported quarterly EPS of $3.80, ahead of estimates.
• Accenture authorized a $2 billion share-repurchase program, allowing buybacks of up to 2.4% of outstanding shares, and declared a quarterly dividend of $1.63, representing a 3.7% annualized yield.

Avity Investment Management Inc. reduced its holdings in shares of Accenture PLC (NYSE:ACN - Free Report) by 95.8% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 3,337 shares of the information technology services provider's stock after selling 75,955 shares during the quarter. Avity Investment Management Inc.'s holdings in Accenture were worth $415,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in ACN. Holt Capital Advisors L.L.C. dba Holt Capital Partners L.P. raised its holdings in Accenture by 0.9% during the third quarter. Holt Capital Advisors L.L.C. dba Holt Capital Partners L.P. now owns 4,416 shares of the information technology services provider's stock worth $1,089,000 after purchasing an additional 41 shares in the last quarter. Peak Asset Management LLC raised its stake in Accenture by 0.8% during the 4th quarter. Peak Asset Management LLC now owns 5,447 shares of the information technology services provider's stock worth $1,461,000 after acquiring an additional 43 shares in the last quarter. SkyView Investment Advisors LLC raised its stake in Accenture by 1.2% during the 2nd quarter. SkyView Investment Advisors LLC now owns 3,751 shares of the information technology services provider's stock worth $1,108,000 after acquiring an additional 43 shares in the last quarter. Institute for Wealth Management LLC. boosted its stake in Accenture by 3.2% in the fourth quarter. Institute for Wealth Management LLC. now owns 1,433 shares of the information technology services provider's stock valued at $384,000 after acquiring an additional 44 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Intrua Financial LLC grew its holdings in shares of Accenture by 3.3% during the fourth quarter. Intrua Financial LLC now owns 1,442 shares of the information technology services provider's stock worth $387,000 after purchasing an additional 46 shares during the last quarter. 75.14% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In related news, General Counsel Joel Unruch sold 10,498 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 sale, the general counsel owned 17,735 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,890,450.30. This trade represents a 37.18% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. 0.02% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have recently weighed in on ACN shares. Wolfe Research reissued an "outperform" rating and issued a $200.00 target price on shares of Accenture in a report on Tuesday, June 16th. TD Cowen lowered shares of Accenture from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and lowered their target price for the stock from $258.00 to $150.00 in a research report on Monday, June 22nd. Evercore set a $180.00 price target on shares of Accenture in a research report on Thursday, June 18th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on shares of Accenture from $200.00 to $194.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, July 20th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets restated a "market perform" rating and issued a $150.00 price objective on shares of Accenture in a research note on Friday, June 19th. Twelve analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fourteen have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, Accenture has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $192.96.

Accenture Trading Up 2.6%

NYSE:ACN opened at $175.49 on Friday. Accenture PLC has a 52-week low of $118.15 and a 52-week high of $291.09. The company has a quick ratio of 1.34, a current ratio of 1.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $151.64 and a 200-day simple moving average of $187.15. The company has a market capitalization of $117.20 billion, a PE ratio of 14.02, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.82 and a beta of 1.09.

Accenture (NYSE:ACN - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Friday, June 19th. The information technology services provider reported $3.80 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $3.70 by $0.10. The company had revenue of $18.72 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $18.78 billion. Accenture had a net margin of 10.66% and a return on equity of 26.47%. 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 posted $3.49 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts expect that Accenture PLC will post 13.85 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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

Accenture Dividend Announcement

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

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