Groupe la Francaise Decreases Stock Position in Accenture PLC $ACN
by Renee Jackson · The Cerbat GemGroupe la Francaise trimmed its position in shares of Accenture PLC (NYSE:ACN – Free Report) by 17.4% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 31,701 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock after selling 6,674 shares during the quarter. Groupe la Francaise’s holdings in Accenture were worth $3,917,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.
Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. California State Teachers Retirement System lifted its holdings in shares of Accenture by 12,316.0% in the 2nd quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 116,033,331 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $14,439,188,000 after acquiring an additional 115,098,783 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its holdings 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 valued at $7,583,462,000 after purchasing an additional 129,610 shares during the last quarter. Capital International Investors raised its position in Accenture by 2.0% in the 4th 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 during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Accenture by 1.5% in 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 last quarter. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its position in shares of 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 buying an additional 1,122,855 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.14% of the company’s stock.
Analyst Ratings Changes
Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reiterated a “hold” rating and issued a $136.00 price target on shares of Accenture in a report on Friday, July 10th. BMO Capital Markets reaffirmed a “market perform” rating and issued a $150.00 price objective on shares of Accenture in a research report on Friday, June 19th. Citigroup increased their target price on Accenture from $135.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, August 24th. Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on shares of Accenture from $177.00 to $130.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, June 22nd. Finally, TD Cowen lifted their price objective on shares of Accenture from $151.00 to $173.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 26th. Twelve equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fourteen have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $194.19.
Get Our Latest Analysis on ACN
Accenture Trading Down 0.1%
NYSE ACN opened at $186.53 on Tuesday. Accenture PLC has a 52 week low of $118.15 and a 52 week high of $291.09. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $163.15 and a 200 day moving average price of $176.29. The company has a quick ratio of 1.34, a current ratio of 1.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15. The firm has a market cap of $124.57 billion, a PE ratio of 14.90, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.50 and a beta of 1.10.
Accenture (NYSE:ACN – Get Free Report) last announced 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $18.78 billion. Accenture had a net margin of 10.66% and a return on equity of 26.47%. Accenture’s revenue was up 5.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $3.49 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Accenture PLC will post 13.86 EPS for the current fiscal year.
Accenture Announces Dividend
The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 14th. Investors of record on Thursday, July 9th were paid a dividend of $1.63 per share. This represents a $6.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.5%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, July 9th. Accenture’s payout ratio is 52.08%.
Accenture declared that its Board of Directors has approved a stock buyback 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 leadership believes its stock is undervalued.
Insider Transactions at Accenture
In other Accenture news, General Counsel Joel Unruch sold 10,498 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 30th. The stock was 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 in the company, valued at approximately $2,890,450.30. This trade represents a 37.18% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed 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 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.
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