Trust Co. of Vermont Invests $5 Million in Accenture PLC $ACN

Trust Co. of Vermont acquired a new stake in Accenture PLC (NYSE:ACN) in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund acquired 40,149 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $4,996,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Holt Capital Advisors L.L.C. dba Holt Capital Partners L.P. raised its holdings 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 valued at $1,089,000 after purchasing an additional 41 shares during the period. Peak Asset Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Accenture by 0.8% in the 4th quarter. Peak Asset Management LLC now owns 5,447 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $1,461,000 after buying an additional 43 shares during the period. SkyView Investment Advisors LLC increased its position in Accenture by 1.2% in the 2nd quarter. SkyView Investment Advisors LLC now owns 3,751 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $1,108,000 after buying an additional 43 shares in the last quarter. Institute for Wealth Management LLC. raised its stake in Accenture by 3.2% during the 4th quarter. Institute for Wealth Management LLC. now owns 1,433 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $384,000 after buying an additional 44 shares during the period. Finally, Intrua Financial LLC raised its stake in 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 buying an additional 46 shares during the period. 75.14% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Accenture Trading Down 3.8%

Shares of Accenture stock opened at $170.23 on Tuesday. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $151.07 and a 200 day simple moving average of $182.13. Accenture PLC has a 12-month low of $118.15 and a 12-month high of $291.09. The company has a market capitalization of $113.68 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.60, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.83 and a beta of 1.09. The company has a current ratio of 1.34, a quick ratio of 1.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15.

Accenture (NYSE:ACN) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, June 19th. The information technology services provider reported $3.80 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.70 by $0.10. Accenture had a return on equity of 26.47% and a net margin of 10.66%.The business had revenue of $18.72 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $18.78 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $3.49 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 5.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Accenture PLC will post 13.85 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Accenture Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 14th. Investors of record on Thursday, July 9th were issued a dividend of $1.63 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, July 9th. This represents a $6.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.8%. Accenture’s payout ratio is 52.08%.

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have commented on the company. Guggenheim reduced their price objective on Accenture from $225.00 to $185.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, June 22nd. TD Cowen lowered Accenture from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and lowered their target price for the stock from $258.00 to $150.00 in a research report 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 report on Wednesday, June 17th. Citigroup decreased their price target on shares of Accenture from $215.00 to $195.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, June 1st. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price objective on shares of Accenture from $315.00 to $270.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, June 3rd. Twelve equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fourteen have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $192.96.

Insider Transactions at Accenture

In other Accenture news, General Counsel Joel Unruch sold 10,498 shares of the company’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 directly owned 17,735 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,890,450.30. This represents a 37.18% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders own 0.02% of the company’s stock.

Accenture 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.