Live Oak Private Wealth LLC Takes $1.47 Million Position in Accenture PLC $ACN

Key Points

• Live Oak Private Wealth acquired 11,772 Accenture shares worth approximately $1.47 million in the second quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds collectively own 75.14% of the company.
• Analyst sentiment is mixed: 12 analysts rate Accenture a Buy, 14 a Hold and one a Sell, with an average price target of $194.19. Several firms recently lowered their targets despite maintaining generally positive ratings.
• Accenture reported quarterly EPS of $3.80, above expectations, while revenue rose 5.6% year over year to $18.72 billion. The company also pays a $1.63 quarterly dividend and authorized a $2 billion share-buyback plan.

Live Oak Private Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in Accenture PLC (NYSE:ACN - Free Report) in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm acquired 11,772 shares of the information technology services provider's stock, valued at approximately $1,465,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in ACN. State Street Corp boosted its stake 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 worth $7,583,462,000 after acquiring an additional 129,610 shares in the last quarter. Capital International Investors increased its stake 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 raised its holdings in 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 during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its position in Accenture by 15.9% during the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 8,173,338 shares of the information technology services provider's stock worth $2,192,907,000 after purchasing an additional 1,122,855 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Accenture in the fourth quarter valued at $2,146,995,000. 75.14% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. UBS Group reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of Accenture in a research note on Wednesday, August 26th. Guggenheim lowered their price objective on shares of Accenture from $225.00 to $185.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, June 22nd. Royal Bank Of Canada cut their target price on shares of Accenture from $253.00 to $175.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, June 22nd. Truist Financial reduced their price target on shares of Accenture from $210.00 to $150.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, June 22nd. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price target on shares of Accenture from $315.00 to $270.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, June 3rd. Twelve equities research 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. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $194.19.

Insider Activity at Accenture

In other news, General Counsel Joel Unruch sold 10,498 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 30th. The shares were 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 $2,890,450.30. This represents a 37.18% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 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 Down 0.9%

Shares of ACN opened at $188.08 on Wednesday. Accenture PLC has a fifty-two week low of $118.15 and a fifty-two week high of $291.09. The company has a market capitalization of $125.60 billion, a PE ratio of 15.02, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.61 and a beta of 1.10. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $158.25 and a two-hundred day moving average of $177.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a quick ratio of 1.34 and a current ratio of 1.34.

Accenture (NYSE:ACN - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, June 19th. The information technology services provider reported $3.80 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.70 by $0.10. The business had revenue of $18.72 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $18.78 billion. Accenture had a return on equity of 26.47% and a net margin of 10.66%.The business's revenue was up 5.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $3.49 earnings per share. As a group, analysts forecast that Accenture PLC will post 13.86 EPS for the current year.

Accenture Dividend Announcement

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 dividend of $1.63 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, July 9th. This represents a $6.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.5%. Accenture's dividend payout ratio is currently 52.08%.

Accenture declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a share buyback plan on Tuesday, June 23rd that authorizes the company to repurchase $2.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the information technology services provider to buy up to 2.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are generally an indication that the company's leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

About Accenture

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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