Greenleaf Trust Has $2.13 Million Holdings in Accenture PLC $ACN

Greenleaf Trust trimmed its position in shares of Accenture PLC (NYSE:ACN) by 16.9% during the second quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 17,154 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock after selling 3,482 shares during the period. Greenleaf Trust’s holdings in Accenture were worth $2,135,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 93,880 shares during the last quarter. Swiss Life Asset Management Ltd boosted its position in 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 valued at $89,965,000 after buying an additional 36,037 shares in the last quarter. Regent Peak Wealth Advisors LLC grew its stake 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 buying an additional 7,018 shares during the last quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Accenture by 287.0% in the 4th 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 acquiring an additional 969,792 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund increased its holdings in Accenture by 6.7% in the 4th quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund now owns 74,054 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $19,869,000 after purchasing an additional 4,640 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.14% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ACN has been the subject of several recent research reports. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their price target on shares of Accenture from $270.00 to $230.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, June 18th. Argus lowered their target price on shares of Accenture from $335.00 to $220.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, June 22nd. Berenberg Bank cut their target price on Accenture from $273.00 to $220.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, June 17th. TD Cowen boosted their price target on Accenture from $151.00 to $173.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 26th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price objective on shares of Accenture from $315.00 to $270.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, June 3rd. Twelve 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. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $194.19.

Insider Buying and Selling at Accenture

In other Accenture news, General Counsel Joel Unruch sold 10,498 shares of Accenture stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the transaction, the general counsel owned 17,735 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,890,450.30. The trade was a 37.18% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed 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. 0.02% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Accenture Stock Down 0.0%

Shares of NYSE:ACN opened at $189.58 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $126.60 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.14, a PEG ratio of 1.96 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 business’s 50 day simple moving average is $155.72 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $177.90. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a quick ratio of 1.34 and a current ratio of 1.34.

Accenture (NYSE:ACN) last issued its earnings results on Friday, June 19th. The information technology services provider reported $3.80 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.70 by $0.10. The company had revenue of $18.72 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $18.78 billion. Accenture had a return on equity of 26.47% and a net margin of 10.66%.Accenture’s quarterly revenue was up 5.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned $3.49 EPS. As a group, research 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 given a dividend of $1.63 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, July 9th. This represents a $6.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.4%. Accenture’s payout ratio is presently 52.08%.

Accenture announced that its board has approved a share repurchase plan on Tuesday, June 23rd that authorizes the company to repurchase $2.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the information technology services provider to repurchase up to 2.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are often a sign that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

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.