Wellington Management Group LLP Sells 3,387,037 Shares of Accenture PLC $ACN

Wellington Management Group LLP lowered its holdings in shares of Accenture PLC (NYSE:ACN) by 89.9% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 378,515 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock after selling 3,387,037 shares during the quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP’s holdings in Accenture were worth $47,102,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in ACN. McMillan Office Inc. purchased a new position in Accenture in the fourth quarter worth about $27,000. University of Texas Texas AM Investment Management Co. bought a new stake in shares of Accenture in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Triumph Capital Management purchased a new position in shares of Accenture in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $26,000. Lloyd Advisory Services LLC. bought a new position in shares of Accenture during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Finally, IMG Wealth Management Inc. raised 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 buying an additional 89 shares during the period. 75.14% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

ACN has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reaffirmed a “hold” rating and set a $136.00 price objective on shares of Accenture in a research note on Friday, July 10th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on shares of Accenture from $200.00 to $194.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, July 20th. TD Cowen lifted their price target on shares of Accenture from $151.00 to $173.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 26th. Argus reduced their price objective on shares of Accenture from $335.00 to $220.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, June 22nd. Finally, Evercore set a $180.00 price objective on shares of Accenture in a research note on Thursday, June 18th. Twelve investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fourteen have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $194.19.

Accenture Trading Up 2.9%

ACN stock opened at $193.19 on Friday. Accenture PLC has a 12 month low of $118.15 and a 12 month high of $291.09. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $160.77 and its 200 day moving average is $176.79. The company has a market capitalization of $129.01 billion, a PE ratio of 15.43, a P/E/G ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 1.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a current ratio of 1.34 and a quick ratio of 1.34.

Accenture (NYSE:ACN) last issued its earnings results 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 business had revenue of $18.72 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $18.78 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $3.49 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts anticipate that Accenture PLC will post 13.86 EPS for the current year.

Accenture Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 14th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, July 9th were issued a $1.63 dividend. This represents a $6.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.4%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, July 9th. Accenture’s dividend payout ratio is currently 52.08%.

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

Insider Activity

In other news, General Counsel Joel Unruch sold 10,498 shares of the firm’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 owned 17,735 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,890,450.30. This trade represents a 37.18% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. 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.