Accenture PLC $ACN Shares Bought by Headlands Technologies LLC

Headlands Technologies LLC lifted its position in shares of Accenture PLC (NYSE:ACN) by 118.9% during the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 22,556 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock after buying an additional 12,251 shares during the period. Headlands Technologies LLC’s holdings in Accenture were worth $2,807,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of ACN. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Accenture in the fourth quarter valued at $2,146,995,000. Flossbach Von Storch SE purchased a new stake in shares of Accenture in the 2nd quarter worth about $309,873,000. First Trust Advisors LP increased its holdings in Accenture by 120.0% during the 1st quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 3,482,150 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $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 worth about $311,694,000. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. raised 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 worth $2,192,907,000 after acquiring an additional 1,122,855 shares during the last quarter. 75.14% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on ACN shares. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price objective on shares of Accenture from $315.00 to $270.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, June 3rd. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their target price on Accenture from $210.00 to $185.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, June 15th. Robert W. Baird set a $190.00 price target on Accenture in a research report on Thursday, June 18th. Dbs Bank cut Accenture from a “moderate buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, June 23rd. Finally, Guggenheim decreased their price objective on Accenture from $225.00 to $185.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, June 22nd. Twelve equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fourteen have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Accenture has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $194.19.

Insider Activity at Accenture

In related news, General Counsel Joel Unruch sold 10,498 shares of Accenture stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, the general counsel owned 17,735 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,890,450.30. The trade was a 37.18% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Corporate insiders own 0.02% of the company’s stock.

Accenture Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:ACN opened at $189.58 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $126.60 billion, a PE ratio of 15.14, a P/E/G ratio of 1.96 and a beta of 1.09. Accenture PLC has a 12 month low of $118.15 and a 12 month high of $291.09. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a current ratio of 1.34 and a quick ratio of 1.34. The business has a 50-day moving average of $155.72 and a two-hundred day moving average of $177.90.

Accenture (NYSE:ACN) last issued its earnings results on Friday, June 19th. The information technology services provider reported $3.80 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.70 by $0.10. The business had revenue of $18.72 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $18.78 billion. Accenture had a return on equity of 26.47% and a net margin of 10.66%.The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $3.49 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that Accenture PLC will post 13.85 earnings per share for the current year.

Accenture Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 14th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, July 9th were given a $1.63 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, July 9th. This represents a $6.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.4%. Accenture’s dividend payout ratio is presently 52.08%.

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

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.