Flossbach Von Storch SE Makes New $309.87 Million Investment in Accenture PLC $ACN

Flossbach Von Storch SE purchased a new position in shares of Accenture PLC (NYSE:ACN) in the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm purchased 2,490,138 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $309,873,000. Accenture comprises approximately 1.4% of Flossbach Von Storch SE’s holdings, making the stock its 23rd largest holding.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Accenture during the 4th quarter worth about $2,146,995,000. First Trust Advisors LP raised its holdings in Accenture by 120.0% during the first quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 3,482,150 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $690,475,000 after acquiring an additional 1,899,305 shares in the last quarter. Voloridge Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in Accenture during the third quarter valued at approximately $311,694,000. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted 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 during the last quarter. Finally, Pzena Investment Management LLC grew its stake in Accenture by 84.0% in the first quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC now owns 2,405,683 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $477,023,000 after purchasing an additional 1,097,961 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 75.14% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, General Counsel Joel Unruch sold 10,498 shares of the company’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 directly owned 17,735 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,890,450.30. This represents a 37.18% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal 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.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price objective on Accenture from $315.00 to $270.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, June 3rd. BMO Capital Markets reaffirmed a “market perform” rating and set a $150.00 price target on shares of Accenture in a research report on Friday, June 19th. William Blair cut shares of Accenture from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, June 18th. Citigroup decreased their price objective on shares of Accenture from $215.00 to $195.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, June 1st. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group lowered their price objective on shares of Accenture from $210.00 to $185.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, June 15th. Twelve 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 company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $192.96.

Accenture Price Performance

Accenture stock opened at $183.52 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $122.56 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.66, a PEG ratio of 1.79 and a beta of 1.09. 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 PLC has a 12 month low of $118.15 and a 12 month high of $291.09. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $151.32 and its 200-day moving average is $180.90.

Accenture (NYSE:ACN) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, June 19th. The information technology services provider reported $3.80 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.70 by $0.10. Accenture had a return on equity of 26.47% and a net margin of 10.66%.The business had revenue of $18.72 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $18.78 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $3.49 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts expect that Accenture PLC will post 13.85 EPS for the current year.

Accenture declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share buyback program on Tuesday, June 23rd that allows the company to buyback $2.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the information technology services provider to buy up to 2.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are often an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Accenture Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 14th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, July 9th were issued 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 dividend yield of 3.6%. Accenture’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 52.08%.

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.