Allen Mooney & Barnes Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Accenture PLC (NYSE:ACN - Free Report) during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 112,246 shares of the information technology services provider's stock, valued at approximately $13,968,000. Accenture accounts for about 2.1% of Allen Mooney & Barnes Investment Advisors LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 17th largest holding.
A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Brighton Jones LLC raised its holdings in Accenture by 36.2% during the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 18,438 shares of the information technology services provider's stock valued at $6,486,000 after buying an additional 4,905 shares during the last quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC raised its position in Accenture by 46.9% during the 2nd quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC now owns 2,066 shares of the information technology services provider's stock valued at $618,000 after purchasing an additional 660 shares during the last quarter. United Bank raised its position in Accenture by 49.8% during the 2nd quarter. United Bank now owns 3,639 shares of the information technology services provider's stock valued at $1,088,000 after purchasing an additional 1,209 shares during the last quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia lifted its holdings in Accenture by 23.0% in the 2nd quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia now owns 828 shares of the information technology services provider's stock worth $247,000 after buying an additional 155 shares during the period. Finally, Main Street Financial Solutions LLC grew its position in shares of Accenture by 4.2% in the 2nd quarter. Main Street Financial Solutions LLC now owns 1,767 shares of the information technology services provider's stock worth $528,000 after buying an additional 72 shares during the last quarter. 75.14% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.
Accenture Stock Up 2.9%
ACN opened at $193.19 on Friday. 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 firm has a 50 day moving average price of $160.77 and a 200-day moving average price of $176.79. Accenture PLC has a twelve month low of $118.15 and a twelve month high of $291.09. The stock has a market capitalization of $129.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.43, a PEG ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 1.10.
Accenture (NYSE:ACN - Get Free Report) last released 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 business 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 business's quarterly revenue was up 5.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $3.49 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that Accenture PLC will post 13.86 earnings per share for the current year.
Accenture declared that its Board of Directors has approved a stock buyback plan on Tuesday, June 23rd that allows the company to repurchase $2.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the information technology services provider to buy up to 2.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are often a sign that the company's leadership believes its stock is undervalued.
Accenture Dividend Announcement
The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 14th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, July 9th were issued a $1.63 dividend. This represents a $6.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, July 9th. Accenture's payout ratio is 52.08%.
Insider Transactions at Accenture
In other news, General Counsel Joel Unruch sold 10,498 shares of the company'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 sale, the general counsel directly 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 sale 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 currently owned by insiders.
Wall Street Analyst Weigh In
ACN has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. William Blair downgraded Accenture from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating in a report on Thursday, June 18th. Jefferies Financial Group cut their target price on shares of Accenture from $210.00 to $185.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, June 15th. BNP Paribas Exane lowered their price objective on shares of Accenture from $180.00 to $130.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Friday, June 26th. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their target price on Accenture from $270.00 to $230.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, June 18th. Finally, Mizuho lowered their target price on Accenture from $280.00 to $226.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, June 23rd. Twelve equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fourteen have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Accenture currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $194.19.
Get Our Latest Stock Analysis on ACN
About Accenture
(
Free Report)
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.
Further Reading
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