Waverly Advisors LLC Acquires 7,025 Shares of Accenture PLC $ACN

Waverly Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Accenture PLC (NYSE:ACN) by 6.3% during the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 117,866 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 7,025 shares during the quarter. Waverly Advisors LLC’s holdings in Accenture were worth $14,667,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Holt Capital Advisors L.L.C. dba Holt Capital Partners L.P. raised its stake in shares of Accenture by 0.9% during the 3rd quarter. Holt Capital Advisors L.L.C. dba Holt Capital Partners L.P. now owns 4,416 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $1,089,000 after purchasing an additional 41 shares during the period. Peak Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in Accenture by 0.8% in the 4th quarter. Peak Asset Management LLC now owns 5,447 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $1,461,000 after purchasing an additional 43 shares during the period. SkyView Investment Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Accenture by 1.2% during the 2nd quarter. SkyView Investment Advisors LLC now owns 3,751 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $1,108,000 after buying an additional 43 shares in the last quarter. Intrua Financial LLC grew its holdings in Accenture by 3.3% during the 4th quarter. Intrua Financial LLC now owns 1,442 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $387,000 after buying an additional 46 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Hazlett Burt & Watson Inc. increased its position in shares of Accenture by 10.0% during the fourth quarter. Hazlett Burt & Watson Inc. now owns 516 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $139,000 after buying an additional 47 shares during the period. 75.14% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Accenture news, General Counsel Joel Unruch sold 10,498 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 completion of the sale, the general counsel directly owned 17,735 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,890,450.30. The trade was a 37.18% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at 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 Stock Performance

NYSE:ACN opened at $179.15 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $119.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.31, a PEG ratio of 1.50 and a beta of 1.10. The business has a 50 day moving average of $164.25 and a 200 day moving average of $175.98. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a current ratio of 1.34 and a quick ratio of 1.34. Accenture PLC has a 1-year low of $118.15 and a 1-year high of $291.09.

Accenture (NYSE:ACN) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, June 19th. The information technology services provider reported $3.80 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.70 by $0.10. The business had revenue of $18.72 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $18.78 billion. Accenture had a net margin of 10.66% and a return on equity of 26.47%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 5.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned $3.49 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Accenture PLC will post 13.86 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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

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 given a $1.63 dividend. This represents a $6.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.6%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, July 9th. Accenture’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 52.08%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on ACN shares. Guggenheim cut their price objective on shares of Accenture from $225.00 to $185.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, June 22nd. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on shares of Accenture from $177.00 to $130.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, June 22nd. DA Davidson lowered their target price on shares of Accenture from $275.00 to $175.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, June 23rd. Mizuho reduced their price target on shares of Accenture from $280.00 to $226.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, June 23rd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on shares of Accenture from $200.00 to $194.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, July 20th. Twelve analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fourteen have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $194.19.

Accenture Company Profile

Accenture plc is a global professional services company that helps organizations improve business performance through consulting, technology, and managed services. Its offerings include strategy and consulting, technology implementation, operations support, and business process services.

The company provides digital transformation services involving cloud computing, artificial intelligence, data and analytics, cybersecurity, systems integration, and enterprise software. Through its Song and Industry X businesses, Accenture also supports customer experience, marketing, product engineering, and smart manufacturing initiatives.

Accenture serves clients across a broad range of industries, including financial services, health care, public service, communications, media and technology, consumer goods, retail, resources, and industrial markets.