VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al Purchases Shares of 335,728 Accenture PLC $ACN

VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al acquired a new position in shares of Accenture PLC (NYSE:ACN) in the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 335,728 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $41,778,000. VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al owned 0.05% of Accenture as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Triumph Capital Management acquired a new position in Accenture during the third quarter worth $26,000. McMillan Office Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Accenture in the 4th quarter valued at $27,000. University of Texas Texas AM Investment Management Co. bought a new stake in shares of Accenture in the 4th quarter worth about $27,000. Dogwood Wealth Management LLC increased its position in shares of Accenture by 147.1% during the 2nd quarter. Dogwood Wealth Management LLC now owns 215 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 128 shares in the last quarter. Finally, IMG Wealth Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Accenture by 134.8% during the 1st 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 and hedge funds own 75.14% of the company’s stock.

Accenture Stock Performance

Shares of Accenture stock opened at $186.53 on Monday. 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 50 day simple moving average of $161.92 and a 200 day simple moving average of $176.52. Accenture PLC has a fifty-two week low of $118.15 and a fifty-two week high of $291.09. The firm has a market cap of $124.57 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.90, a P/E/G ratio of 1.50 and a beta of 1.10.

Accenture (NYSE:ACN) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, June 19th. The information technology services provider reported $3.80 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.70 by $0.10. The firm 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 quarterly revenue was up 5.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $3.49 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that Accenture PLC will post 13.86 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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

Accenture Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 14th. Investors of record on Thursday, July 9th were given a $1.63 dividend. This represents a $6.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.5%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, July 9th. Accenture’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 52.08%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, General Counsel Joel Unruch sold 10,498 shares of the firm’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 transaction, the general counsel owned 17,735 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,890,450.30. This trade represents a 37.18% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Corporate insiders own 0.02% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have weighed in on ACN. Robert W. Baird set a $190.00 price objective on shares of Accenture in a research note on Thursday, June 18th. Oppenheimer set a $201.00 target price on Accenture in a report on Monday, June 8th. Evercore set a $180.00 price objective on Accenture in a research report on Thursday, June 18th. TD Cowen increased their target price on Accenture from $151.00 to $173.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 26th. Finally, Argus lowered their target price on Accenture from $335.00 to $220.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, June 22nd. Twelve equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fourteen have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target 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.