California State Teachers Retirement System Purchases 115,098,783 Shares of Accenture PLC $ACN

Key Points

• California State Teachers Retirement System dramatically increased its Accenture stake by 115.1 million shares in the second quarter, bringing its holdings to 116.0 million shares valued at approximately $14.4 billion, or 17.38% of the company.
• Analyst sentiment remains mixed: Accenture has a consensus “Hold” rating and a $194.19 average price target, while several firms recently reduced their targets. The stock opened at $186.53, well below its 52-week high of $291.09.
• Accenture beat quarterly earnings expectations with $3.80 in EPS, while revenue rose 5.6% year over year to $18.72 billion. The company also authorized a $2 billion share-repurchase program and pays a $1.63 quarterly dividend, representing a 3.5% yield.

California State Teachers Retirement System boosted its position in Accenture PLC (NYSE:ACN - Free Report) by 12,316.0% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 116,033,331 shares of the information technology services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 115,098,783 shares during the period. California State Teachers Retirement System owned 17.38% of Accenture worth $14,439,188,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Swiss Life Asset Management Ltd increased its stake in Accenture by 12.0% during the 4th quarter. Swiss Life Asset Management Ltd now owns 335,314 shares of the information technology services provider's stock valued at $89,965,000 after purchasing an additional 36,037 shares in the last quarter. Regent Peak Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Accenture by 10.4% in the second quarter. Regent Peak Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 74,187 shares of the information technology services provider's stock valued at $9,232,000 after buying an additional 7,018 shares in the last quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Accenture by 287.0% during the fourth quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC now owns 1,307,722 shares of the information technology services provider's stock valued at $350,862,000 after buying an additional 969,792 shares during the last quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund increased its position in shares of Accenture by 6.7% during the fourth quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund now owns 74,054 shares of the information technology services provider's stock worth $19,869,000 after acquiring an additional 4,640 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ironwood Investment Counsel LLC increased its position in shares of Accenture by 29.0% during the fourth quarter. Ironwood Investment Counsel LLC now owns 39,755 shares of the information technology services provider's stock worth $10,666,000 after acquiring an additional 8,944 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 75.14% of the company's stock.

Insider Transactions at Accenture

In other Accenture news, General Counsel Joel Unruch sold 10,498 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $162.98, for a total value of $1,710,964.04. Following the completion of the sale, the general counsel directly 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 filing with the SEC, 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 corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages recently weighed in on ACN. Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on shares of Accenture from $177.00 to $130.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, June 22nd. Dbs Bank downgraded Accenture from a "moderate buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 23rd. Robert W. Baird set a $190.00 target price on Accenture in a report on Thursday, June 18th. Berenberg Bank cut their target price on Accenture from $273.00 to $220.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, June 17th. Finally, Argus decreased their price target on Accenture from $335.00 to $220.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Monday, June 22nd. 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's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $194.19.

Accenture Trading Down 0.1%

NYSE ACN opened at $186.53 on Tuesday. The business's fifty day moving average is $163.15 and its 200-day moving average is $176.29. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $124.57 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.90, a PEG ratio of 1.50 and a beta of 1.10. Accenture PLC has a one year low of $118.15 and a one year high of $291.09.

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 for the quarter, beating 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 net margin of 10.66% and a return on equity of 26.47%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 5.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $3.49 earnings per share. Equities research analysts predict that Accenture PLC will post 13.86 EPS for the current year.

Accenture announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock repurchase program on Tuesday, June 23rd that permits the company to repurchase $2.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the information technology services provider to reacquire up to 2.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are often an indication that the company's board believes its stock is undervalued.

Accenture Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 14th. Investors of record on Thursday, July 9th were paid a $1.63 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, July 9th. This represents a $6.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.5%. Accenture's dividend payout ratio is presently 52.08%.

Accenture 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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