Quantitative Investment Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Accenture PLC (NYSE:ACN - Free Report) by 217.2% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 33,216 shares of the information technology services provider's stock after buying an additional 22,746 shares during the period. Quantitative Investment Management LLC's holdings in Accenture were worth $4,133,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.
Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Holt Capital Advisors L.L.C. dba Holt Capital Partners L.P. increased its stake in shares of Accenture by 0.9% during the third quarter. Holt Capital Advisors L.L.C. dba Holt Capital Partners L.P. now owns 4,416 shares of the information technology services provider's stock worth $1,089,000 after purchasing an additional 41 shares during the period. Peak Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Accenture by 0.8% during the fourth quarter. Peak Asset Management LLC now owns 5,447 shares of the information technology services provider's stock worth $1,461,000 after buying an additional 43 shares in the last quarter. SkyView Investment Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Accenture by 1.2% in the second quarter. SkyView Investment Advisors LLC now owns 3,751 shares of the information technology services provider's stock valued at $1,108,000 after acquiring an additional 43 shares during the period. Intrua Financial LLC grew its stake in shares of Accenture by 3.3% in the fourth quarter. Intrua Financial LLC now owns 1,442 shares of the information technology services provider's stock valued at $387,000 after acquiring an additional 46 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Hazlett Burt & Watson Inc. increased its position in Accenture by 10.0% during the fourth quarter. Hazlett Burt & Watson Inc. now owns 516 shares of the information technology services provider's stock worth $139,000 after acquiring an additional 47 shares during the period. 75.14% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.
Insider Activity at Accenture
In related news, General Counsel Joel Unruch sold 10,498 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $162.98, for a total value of $1,710,964.04. Following the sale, the general counsel owned 17,735 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,890,450.30. The trade was a 37.18% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Company insiders own 0.02% of the company's stock.
Analyst Ratings Changes
Several research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Weiss Ratings cut shares of Accenture from a "hold (c-)" rating to a "sell (d+)" rating in a report on Thursday, July 9th. Guggenheim lowered their price objective on Accenture from $225.00 to $185.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, June 22nd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reaffirmed a "hold" rating and issued a $136.00 price objective on shares of Accenture in a report on Friday, July 10th. DA Davidson cut their price objective on shares of Accenture from $275.00 to $175.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, June 23rd. Finally, William Blair cut shares of Accenture from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating in a research report on Thursday, June 18th. Twelve investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fourteen have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $194.19.
Read Our Latest Research Report on ACN
Accenture Stock Performance
NYSE ACN opened at $189.58 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $126.60 billion, a PE ratio of 15.14, a PEG ratio of 1.96 and a beta of 1.09. Accenture PLC has a fifty-two week low of $118.15 and a fifty-two week high of $291.09. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a quick ratio of 1.34 and a current ratio of 1.34. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $155.72 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $177.90.
Accenture (NYSE:ACN - Get Free Report) last posted its 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 firm had revenue of $18.72 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $18.78 billion. Accenture had a return on equity of 26.47% and a net margin of 10.66%.The business's quarterly revenue was up 5.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $3.49 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts expect that Accenture PLC will post 13.85 EPS for the current fiscal year.
Accenture declared that its board has approved a share buyback program 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 purchase up to 2.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are typically an indication that the company's board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.
Accenture Announces Dividend
The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 14th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, July 9th were given a $1.63 dividend. This represents a $6.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.4%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, July 9th. Accenture's dividend payout ratio is 52.08%.
Accenture Company Profile
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Free Report)
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.
See Also
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