Community Trust & Investment Co. Boosts Stake in Accenture PLC $ACN

Community Trust & Investment Co. lifted its holdings in shares of Accenture PLC (NYSE:ACN) by 25.3% in the second quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 20,072 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 4,051 shares during the quarter. Community Trust & Investment Co.’s holdings in Accenture were worth $2,498,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Triumph Capital Management acquired a new stake in shares of Accenture during the third quarter valued at about $26,000. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Accenture during the 4th quarter worth approximately $27,000. Dogwood Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in Accenture by 147.1% in the 2nd quarter. Dogwood Wealth Management LLC now owns 215 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 128 shares during the last quarter. McMillan Office Inc. purchased a new stake in Accenture in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Finally, University of Texas Texas AM Investment Management Co. purchased a new stake in Accenture in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.14% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on ACN shares. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their price objective on Accenture from $210.00 to $185.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, June 15th. Wolfe Research restated an “outperform” rating and set a $200.00 target price on shares of Accenture in a report on Tuesday, June 16th. Susquehanna dropped their target price on Accenture from $186.00 to $140.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, June 22nd. Citigroup reduced their price target on shares of Accenture from $215.00 to $195.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, June 1st. Finally, DA Davidson lowered their price objective on shares of Accenture from $275.00 to $175.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, June 23rd. Twelve research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fourteen have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Accenture presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $192.96.

Accenture Trading Up 2.6%

NYSE:ACN opened at $175.49 on Friday. Accenture PLC has a 12-month low of $118.15 and a 12-month high of $291.09. The firm has a market cap of $117.20 billion, a PE ratio of 14.02, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.77 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. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $151.64 and a 200 day moving average price of $187.15.

Accenture (NYSE:ACN) last issued 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. The company had revenue of $18.72 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $18.78 billion. Accenture had a return on equity of 26.47% and a net margin of 10.66%.Accenture’s revenue was up 5.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $3.49 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Accenture PLC will post 13.85 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Accenture Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 14th. Investors of record on Thursday, July 9th will be paid a $1.63 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, July 9th. This represents a $6.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.7%. Accenture’s payout ratio is currently 52.08%.

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Accenture news, General Counsel Joel Unruch sold 10,498 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 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 is available at this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. 0.02% of the stock is owned by company 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.