Wedge Capital Management L L P NC Sells 26,989 Shares of Accenture PLC $ACN

Wedge Capital Management L L P NC lowered its position in shares of Accenture PLC (NYSE:ACN) by 94.3% in the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 1,631 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock after selling 26,989 shares during the quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC’s holdings in Accenture were worth $203,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of ACN. Triumph Capital Management bought a new stake in shares of Accenture in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $26,000. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Accenture during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $27,000. McMillan Office Inc. purchased a new stake in Accenture in the fourth quarter worth $27,000. University of Texas Texas AM Investment Management Co. bought a new stake in Accenture in the fourth quarter valued at $27,000. Finally, Dogwood Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in Accenture by 147.1% in the second quarter. Dogwood Wealth Management LLC now owns 215 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $27,000 after acquiring an additional 128 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.14% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Accenture

In related news, General Counsel Joel Unruch sold 10,498 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $162.98, for a total transaction of $1,710,964.04. Following 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 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 insiders.

Accenture Stock Performance

Shares of ACN opened at $176.60 on Friday. 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 stock has a market cap of $117.94 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.11, a P/E/G ratio of 1.83 and a beta of 1.09. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $151.15 and its 200-day moving average price is $183.56. Accenture PLC has a 52 week low of $118.15 and a 52 week high of $291.09.

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

Accenture announced that its board has approved a share buyback plan on Tuesday, June 23rd that permits the company to buyback $2.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the information technology services provider to reacquire up to 2.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are typically an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Accenture Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 14th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, July 9th were given a $1.63 dividend. This represents a $6.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, July 9th. Accenture’s payout ratio is currently 52.08%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have commented on the stock. Dbs Bank lowered shares of Accenture from a “moderate buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, June 23rd. Mizuho cut their target price on shares of Accenture from $280.00 to $226.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, June 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on shares of Accenture from $247.00 to $201.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, June 8th. Citigroup lowered their price objective on shares of Accenture from $215.00 to $195.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday, June 1st. Finally, Argus cut their price objective on Accenture from $335.00 to $220.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, June 22nd. 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 company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Accenture presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $192.96.

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.