Provident Trust Co. Reduces Stock Holdings in Accenture PLC $ACN

Key Points

• Provident Trust Co. cut its Accenture stake by 25.9% in the second quarter, selling 345,122 shares and retaining 987,533 shares valued at approximately $122.9 million. Institutional investors collectively own 75.14% of Accenture.
• Analyst sentiment is mixed: Accenture has a consensus “Hold” rating from analysts, with an average price target of $194.19. Several firms recently lowered their price targets, although most maintain Buy or Outperform ratings.
• Accenture reported quarterly EPS of $3.80, exceeding estimates, while revenue rose 5.6% year over year to $18.72 billion. The company also authorized a $2 billion share-repurchase program and maintains a quarterly dividend of $1.63 per share.

Provident Trust Co. reduced its holdings in shares of Accenture PLC (NYSE:ACN - Free Report) by 25.9% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 987,533 shares of the information technology services provider's stock after selling 345,122 shares during the period. Accenture makes up 2.6% of Provident Trust Co.'s holdings, making the stock its 12th largest position. Provident Trust Co. owned approximately 0.15% of Accenture worth $122,889,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC grew its stake in Accenture by 197.2% during the 4th quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 141,484 shares of the information technology services provider's stock valued at $37,960,000 after purchasing an additional 93,880 shares during the last quarter. Swiss Life Asset Management Ltd raised its stake in shares of Accenture by 12.0% in the fourth quarter. Swiss Life Asset Management Ltd now owns 335,314 shares of the information technology services provider's stock worth $89,965,000 after purchasing an additional 36,037 shares during the last quarter. Regent Peak Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Accenture by 10.4% during the second quarter. Regent Peak Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 74,187 shares of the information technology services provider's stock worth $9,232,000 after purchasing an additional 7,018 shares during the period. Pzena Investment Management LLC boosted its position in Accenture by 287.0% in 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. Finally, Varma Mutual Pension Insurance Co increased its holdings in Accenture by 21.4% in the 4th quarter. Varma Mutual Pension Insurance Co now owns 105,386 shares of the information technology services provider's stock worth $28,275,000 after buying an additional 18,600 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.14% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Accenture news, General Counsel Joel Unruch sold 10,498 shares of the 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 transaction, the general counsel owned 17,735 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,890,450.30. This represents a 37.18% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders own 0.02% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ACN has been the subject of several research reports. Weiss Ratings cut shares of Accenture from a "hold (c-)" rating to a "sell (d+)" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 9th. DA Davidson cut their price objective on shares of Accenture from $275.00 to $175.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, June 23rd. Dbs Bank cut shares of Accenture from a "moderate buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Tuesday, June 23rd. Argus lowered their price target on shares of Accenture from $335.00 to $220.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, June 22nd. Finally, Mizuho cut their price target on Accenture from $280.00 to $226.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, June 23rd. Twelve research 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. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $194.19.

Accenture Stock Performance

ACN opened at $189.58 on Friday. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $155.72 and a 200 day moving average price of $178.32. Accenture PLC has a 1 year low of $118.15 and a 1 year high of $291.09. The stock has a market cap of $126.60 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.14, a P/E/G ratio of 1.96 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 (NYSE:ACN - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, June 19th. The information technology services provider reported $3.80 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.70 by $0.10. The company had revenue of $18.72 billion for 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 was up 5.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $3.49 earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that Accenture PLC will post 13.85 earnings per share for the current year.

Accenture announced that its board has initiated a share repurchase 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 shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are generally a sign that the company's board believes its shares are undervalued.

Accenture Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 14th. Investors of record on Thursday, July 9th were paid a $1.63 dividend. This represents a $6.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.4%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, July 9th. Accenture's payout ratio is currently 52.08%.

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.

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