Alternative Investment Advisors LLC. Makes New Investment in Accenture PLC $ACN

Key Points

• Alternative Investment Advisors LLC initiated a 12,293-share Accenture position worth approximately $1.53 million, while institutional investors collectively own 75.14% of the company.
• Analyst sentiment is mixed, with 12 Buy ratings, 14 Holds and one Sell; the consensus rating is Hold with an average price target of $194.19.
• Accenture exceeded quarterly EPS expectations, reporting $3.80 versus $3.70 estimated, while revenue rose 5.6% year over year. The company also pays a $1.63 quarterly dividend and authorized a $2 billion share buyback.

Alternative Investment Advisors LLC. bought a new stake in shares of Accenture PLC (NYSE:ACN - Free Report) during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund bought 12,293 shares of the information technology services provider's stock, valued at approximately $1,530,000. Accenture makes up 0.6% of Alternative Investment Advisors LLC.'s holdings, making the stock its 21st largest position.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of ACN. VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al purchased a new stake in shares of Accenture in the second quarter worth $41,778,000. California State Teachers Retirement System raised its position in shares of Accenture by 12,316.0% in the 2nd quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 116,033,331 shares of the information technology services provider's stock worth $14,439,188,000 after purchasing an additional 115,098,783 shares during the last quarter. Studio Investment Management LLC grew its position in Accenture by 65.5% during the 2nd quarter. Studio Investment Management LLC now owns 2,554 shares of the information technology services provider's stock valued at $318,000 after purchasing an additional 1,011 shares during the last quarter. Ameritas Advisory Services LLC increased its stake in Accenture by 148.0% during the 2nd quarter. Ameritas Advisory Services LLC now owns 2,758 shares of the information technology services provider's stock valued at $343,000 after purchasing an additional 1,646 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Kintra Wealth LLC purchased a new position in Accenture in the second quarter worth about $171,000. 75.14% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ACN has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on shares of Accenture from $200.00 to $194.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, July 20th. Dbs Bank lowered shares of Accenture from a "moderate buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Tuesday, June 23rd. Guggenheim lowered their price objective on Accenture from $225.00 to $185.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, June 22nd. Berenberg Bank reduced their target price on Accenture from $273.00 to $220.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, June 17th. Finally, Mizuho decreased their price target 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 investment 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. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $194.19.

Accenture Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:ACN opened at $186.53 on Monday. 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 market capitalization of $124.57 billion, a PE ratio of 14.90, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.50 and a beta of 1.10. The firm's 50 day moving average price is $161.92 and its 200-day moving average price is $176.52. Accenture PLC has a twelve month low of $118.15 and a twelve month high of $291.09.

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, beating the consensus estimate of $3.70 by $0.10. Accenture had a net margin of 10.66% and a return on equity of 26.47%. The company had revenue of $18.72 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $18.78 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $3.49 earnings per share. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 5.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts expect that Accenture PLC will post 13.86 EPS for the current year.

Accenture Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 14th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, July 9th were paid a $1.63 dividend. This represents a $6.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.5%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, July 9th. Accenture's dividend payout ratio is 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 purchase up to 2.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are often an indication that the company's management believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, General Counsel Joel Unruch sold 10,498 shares of Accenture 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 transaction, the general counsel directly owned 17,735 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,890,450.30. The trade was a 37.18% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Corporate insiders own 0.02% of the company's stock.

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.

Want to see what other hedge funds are holding ACN? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Accenture PLC (NYSE:ACN - Free Report).

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.