Accenture PLC $ACN Position Raised by Fulton Bank N.A.

Fulton Bank N.A. grew its position in shares of Accenture PLC (NYSE:ACN) by 50.2% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 15,604 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 5,217 shares during the quarter. Fulton Bank N.A.’s holdings in Accenture were worth $1,942,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Teacher Retirement System of Texas increased its holdings in shares of Accenture by 27.7% during the fourth quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas now owns 282,340 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $75,752,000 after purchasing an additional 61,314 shares during the period. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Accenture by 197.2% in the fourth quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 141,484 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $37,960,000 after purchasing an additional 93,880 shares during the period. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank grew its position in Accenture by 36.6% in the 4th quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 557,516 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $149,582,000 after buying an additional 149,357 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in Accenture by 1.3% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 66,070,930 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $17,726,831,000 after buying an additional 854,361 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Swiss Life Asset Management Ltd increased its stake in Accenture by 12.0% during the 4th quarter. Swiss Life Asset Management Ltd now owns 335,314 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $89,965,000 after buying an additional 36,037 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.14% of the company’s stock.

Accenture Stock Up 1.0%

ACN stock opened at $179.98 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a current ratio of 1.34 and a quick ratio of 1.34. The firm has a market capitalization of $120.19 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.38, a P/E/G ratio of 1.84 and a beta of 1.09. Accenture PLC has a 52-week low of $118.15 and a 52-week high of $291.09. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $151.16 and its 200-day simple moving average is $185.08.

Accenture (NYSE:ACN) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, June 19th. The information technology services provider reported $3.80 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.70 by $0.10. Accenture had a net margin of 10.66% and a return on equity of 26.47%. The firm 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. The company’s revenue was up 5.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Accenture PLC will post 13.85 EPS for the current year.

Accenture Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 14th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, July 9th will be issued a dividend of $1.63 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, July 9th. This represents a $6.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.6%. Accenture’s payout ratio is currently 52.08%.

Accenture declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a share repurchase plan on Tuesday, June 23rd that allows the company to repurchase $2.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the information technology services provider to reacquire up to 2.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are often a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on ACN. Guggenheim reduced their price target on shares of Accenture from $225.00 to $185.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, June 22nd. DA Davidson lowered 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. Argus dropped their target price on Accenture from $335.00 to $220.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, June 22nd. Jefferies Financial Group cut their target price on Accenture from $210.00 to $185.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, June 15th. Finally, HSBC lowered their price target on Accenture from $220.00 to $210.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 14th. 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $192.96.

Insider Buying and Selling at Accenture

In related 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 directly owned 17,735 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,890,450.30. The trade was a 37.18% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Corporate insiders own 0.02% of the company’s stock.

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.