Waverly Advisors LLC Acquires 7,025 Shares of Accenture PLC $ACN

Key Points

• Waverly Advisors increased its Accenture stake by 6.3% in the second quarter, acquiring 7,025 shares and bringing its total holdings to 117,866 shares valued at approximately $14.7 million. Institutional investors collectively own 75.14% of Accenture.
• Analyst sentiment remains mixed, with 12 Buy, 14 Hold, and one Sell rating; the consensus rating is Hold with an average price target of $194.19. Accenture’s latest quarterly results exceeded EPS expectations, while revenue rose 5.6% year over year.
• Accenture pays a quarterly dividend of $1.63, representing a 3.6% annualized yield, and approved a $2 billion share repurchase plan covering up to 2.4% of outstanding shares. General Counsel Joel Unruch separately sold 10,498 shares under a pre-arranged trading plan.

Waverly Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Accenture PLC (NYSE:ACN - Free Report) by 6.3% in the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 117,866 shares of the information technology services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 7,025 shares during the period. Waverly Advisors LLC's holdings in Accenture were worth $14,667,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. McMillan Office Inc. bought a new stake in Accenture during the fourth quarter worth $27,000. University of Texas Texas AM Investment Management Co. bought a new position in Accenture during the 4th quarter valued at $27,000. Triumph Capital Management purchased a new position in Accenture during the 3rd quarter worth $26,000. Lloyd Advisory Services LLC. bought a new stake in shares of Accenture in the 4th quarter worth $35,000. Finally, IMG Wealth Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Accenture by 134.8% in the first quarter. IMG Wealth Management Inc. now owns 155 shares of the information technology services provider's stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 89 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 75.14% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ACN has been the topic of several analyst reports. Jefferies Financial Group cut their price target on shares of Accenture from $210.00 to $185.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, June 15th. BMO Capital Markets reissued a "market perform" rating and set a $150.00 target price on shares of Accenture in a research report on Friday, June 19th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on Accenture from $200.00 to $194.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, July 20th. Wolfe Research increased their price target on Accenture from $165.00 to $215.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 25th. Finally, Guggenheim dropped their price target on Accenture from $225.00 to $185.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, June 22nd. Twelve equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fourteen have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Accenture has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $194.19.

Insider Activity at Accenture

In other news, General Counsel Joel Unruch sold 10,498 shares of the company's stock in a transaction 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 of the company's stock, valued at $2,890,450.30. This represents a 37.18% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. 0.02% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Accenture Stock Down 4.1%

ACN opened at $179.15 on Wednesday. Accenture PLC has a twelve month low of $118.15 and a twelve month high of $291.09. The company's 50-day moving average price is $164.25 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $175.98. The stock has a market cap of $119.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.31, a PEG ratio of 1.50 and a beta of 1.10. The company has a quick ratio of 1.34, a current ratio of 1.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15.

Accenture (NYSE:ACN - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results 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. 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 analyst estimates of $18.78 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $3.49 EPS. Accenture's quarterly revenue was up 5.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts expect that Accenture PLC will post 13.86 earnings per share for the current year.

Accenture Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 14th. Shareholders 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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.6%. Accenture's payout ratio is presently 52.08%.

Accenture announced that its board has approved a stock buyback plan on Tuesday, June 23rd that allows the company to buyback $2.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the information technology services provider to repurchase up to 2.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are usually an indication that the company's leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Accenture Profile

Accenture plc is a global professional services company that helps organizations improve business performance through consulting, technology, and managed services. Its offerings include strategy and consulting, technology implementation, operations support, and business process services.

The company provides digital transformation services involving cloud computing, artificial intelligence, data and analytics, cybersecurity, systems integration, and enterprise software. Through its Song and Industry X businesses, Accenture also supports customer experience, marketing, product engineering, and smart manufacturing initiatives.

Accenture serves clients across a broad range of industries, including financial services, health care, public service, communications, media and technology, consumer goods, retail, resources, and industrial markets.

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