Proficio Capital Partners LLC Takes Position in Accenture PLC $ACN

Proficio Capital Partners LLC bought a new position in Accenture PLC (NYSE:ACN) in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm bought 3,371 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $419,000.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. State Street Corp boosted its position in Accenture by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 28,264,675 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $7,583,462,000 after acquiring an additional 129,610 shares during the period. Capital International Investors lifted its position in shares of Accenture by 2.0% in the fourth quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 17,471,554 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $4,687,867,000 after purchasing an additional 343,420 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Accenture by 1.5% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 14,656,436 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $3,922,212,000 after purchasing an additional 218,719 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its position in Accenture by 15.9% during the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 8,173,338 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $2,192,907,000 after purchasing an additional 1,122,855 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new position in Accenture in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $2,146,995,000. 75.14% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Accenture Stock Up 2.9%

ACN stock opened at $193.19 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $129.01 billion, a PE ratio of 15.43, a PEG ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 1.10. Accenture PLC has a 1 year low of $118.15 and a 1 year high of $291.09. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $160.77 and a 200 day simple moving average of $176.79. 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 posted its earnings results 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. The company had revenue of $18.72 billion for 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 was up 5.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $3.49 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Accenture PLC will post 13.86 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Accenture declared that its board has authorized a share buyback program on Tuesday, June 23rd that permits the company to buyback $2.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the information technology services provider to buy up to 2.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are generally an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Accenture Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 14th. Shareholders 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.4%. Accenture’s dividend payout ratio is presently 52.08%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, General Counsel Joel Unruch sold 10,498 shares of Accenture stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 transaction, the general counsel owned 17,735 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,890,450.30. This trade represents a 37.18% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed 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 currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Robert W. Baird set a $190.00 target price on shares of Accenture in a research note on Thursday, June 18th. Evercore set a $180.00 price objective on Accenture in a report on Thursday, June 18th. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their target price on Accenture from $210.00 to $185.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, June 15th. Susquehanna dropped their target price on Accenture from $186.00 to $140.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, June 22nd. Finally, Berenberg Bank reduced their price target on Accenture from $273.00 to $220.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, June 17th. Twelve 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.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $194.19.

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.