Railway Pension Investments Ltd boosted its holdings in shares of Accenture PLC (NYSE:ACN - Free Report) by 113.0% in the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 192,138 shares of the information technology services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 101,913 shares during the quarter. Railway Pension Investments Ltd's holdings in Accenture were worth $23,910,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.
Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Holt Capital Advisors L.L.C. dba Holt Capital Partners L.P. increased its stake in shares of Accenture by 0.9% during the 3rd 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 last quarter. Peak Asset Management LLC increased its position in 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 during the last quarter. SkyView Investment Advisors LLC lifted 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 worth $1,108,000 after buying an additional 43 shares during the last quarter. Intrua Financial LLC boosted its stake in shares of Accenture by 3.3% during the 4th quarter. Intrua Financial LLC now owns 1,442 shares of the information technology services provider's stock worth $387,000 after acquiring an additional 46 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Hazlett Burt & Watson Inc. raised its stake in shares of Accenture by 10.0% in the 4th quarter. Hazlett Burt & Watson Inc. now owns 516 shares of the information technology services provider's stock valued at $139,000 after acquiring an additional 47 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 75.14% of the company's stock.
Analysts Set New Price Targets
ACN has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. UBS Group restated a "buy" rating on shares of Accenture in a research note on Wednesday, August 26th. Guggenheim reduced their price objective on Accenture from $225.00 to $185.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, June 22nd. Truist Financial dropped their target price on shares of Accenture from $210.00 to $150.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a research 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. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on Accenture from $200.00 to $194.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, July 20th. Twelve analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fourteen have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Accenture has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $194.19.
Check Out Our Latest Research Report on ACN
Insider Activity
In other Accenture news, General Counsel Joel Unruch sold 10,498 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the sale, 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 transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. 0.02% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.
Accenture Price Performance
Accenture stock opened at $190.02 on Tuesday. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $157.03 and a 200 day simple moving average of $177.54. Accenture PLC has a one year low of $118.15 and a one year high of $291.09. The company has a market capitalization of $126.90 billion, a PE ratio of 15.18, a price-to-earnings-growth 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 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 firm had revenue of $18.72 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $18.78 billion. Accenture had a return on equity of 26.47% and a net margin of 10.66%.The business's revenue for the quarter was up 5.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $3.49 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Accenture PLC will post 13.85 EPS for the current fiscal year.
Accenture Dividend Announcement
The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 14th. Stockholders 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.4%. Accenture's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 52.08%.
Accenture declared that its board has authorized a stock repurchase program on Tuesday, June 23rd that permits the company to buyback $2.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the information technology services provider to reacquire up to 2.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are often a sign that the company's board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.
Accenture 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.
Further Reading
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