Handelsbanken Fonder AB Lowers Stake in Accenture PLC $ACN

Handelsbanken Fonder AB trimmed its position in Accenture PLC (NYSE:ACN - Free Report) by 8.2% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 214,556 shares of the information technology services provider's stock after selling 19,288 shares during the quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB's holdings in Accenture were worth $26,699,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted 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 valued at $17,726,831,000 after buying an additional 854,361 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Accenture by 0.5% during the 4th 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 acquiring an additional 129,610 shares in the last quarter. Capital International Investors increased its holdings in Accenture by 2.0% in the 4th quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 17,471,554 shares of the information technology services provider's stock valued at $4,687,867,000 after purchasing an additional 343,420 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Accenture by 1.5% during the fourth 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. grew its stake in shares of Accenture by 15.9% in the fourth 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. 75.14% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

ACN has been the subject of several recent research reports. Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of Accenture from a "hold (c-)" rating to a "sell (d+)" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 9th. Guggenheim cut their price objective on shares of Accenture from $225.00 to $185.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, June 22nd. Robert W. Baird set a $190.00 price objective on shares of Accenture in a research report on Thursday, June 18th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on Accenture from $247.00 to $201.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, June 8th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group cut their price target on Accenture from $270.00 to $230.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, June 18th. Twelve equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fourteen have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $192.96.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, General Counsel Joel Unruch sold 10,498 shares of Accenture stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the general counsel owned 17,735 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,890,450.30. This trade represents a 37.18% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through 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 corporate insiders.

Accenture Trading Up 0.0%

ACN opened at $179.89 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $120.13 billion, a PE ratio of 14.37, a P/E/G ratio of 1.86 and a beta of 1.09. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a current ratio of 1.34 and a quick ratio of 1.34. Accenture PLC has a 12-month low of $118.15 and a 12-month high of $291.09. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $151.19 and its 200 day moving average price is $184.33.

Accenture (NYSE:ACN - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Friday, June 19th. The information technology services provider reported $3.80 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 the consensus estimate of $18.78 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $3.49 EPS. The company's revenue was up 5.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts expect that Accenture PLC will post 13.85 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Accenture Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 14th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, July 9th will be issued a dividend of $1.63 per share. This represents a $6.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, July 9th. Accenture's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 52.08%.

Accenture announced that its board has authorized a stock repurchase plan on Tuesday, June 23rd that allows the company to buyback $2.00 billion in 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 typically an indication that the company's board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

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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