Chesapeake Wealth Management Lowers Position in Accenture PLC $ACN

Chesapeake Wealth Management trimmed its position in shares of Accenture PLC (NYSE:ACNFree Report) by 44.6% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 3,554 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock after selling 2,862 shares during the quarter. Chesapeake Wealth Management’s holdings in Accenture were worth $442,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in ACN. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Accenture during the 4th quarter worth approximately $2,146,995,000. Flossbach Von Storch SE acquired a new stake in shares of Accenture in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $309,873,000. First Trust Advisors LP boosted its stake in shares of Accenture by 120.0% in the first 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 buying an additional 1,899,305 shares in the last quarter. Voloridge Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Accenture in the third quarter valued at approximately $311,694,000. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. grew its holdings 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 period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.14% of the company’s stock.

Accenture Stock Down 0.9%

ACN opened at $188.08 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a quick ratio of 1.34 and a current ratio of 1.34. The company has a market cap of $125.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.02, a PEG ratio of 1.61 and a beta of 1.10. Accenture PLC has a one year low of $118.15 and a one year high of $291.09. The business’s fifty day moving average is $158.25 and its two-hundred day moving average is $177.25.

Accenture (NYSE:ACNGet Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, June 19th. The information technology services provider reported $3.80 earnings per share (EPS) 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 the consensus estimate of $18.78 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $3.49 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 5.6% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts anticipate that Accenture PLC will post 13.86 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Accenture Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 14th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, July 9th were issued a $1.63 dividend. This represents a $6.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, July 9th. Accenture’s dividend payout ratio is 52.08%.

Accenture declared that its board has authorized a stock repurchase program on Tuesday, June 23rd that authorizes the company to buyback $2.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the information technology services provider to reacquire up to 2.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are usually a sign that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have commented on the company. Argus reduced their target price on Accenture from $335.00 to $220.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday, June 22nd. Weiss Ratings cut shares of Accenture from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 9th. Susquehanna cut their price target on shares of Accenture from $186.00 to $140.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday, June 22nd. Citigroup boosted their price objective on shares of Accenture from $135.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, August 24th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets restated a “market perform” rating and set a $150.00 target price on shares of Accenture in a research report on Friday, June 19th. Twelve 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, Accenture presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $194.19.

Read Our Latest Stock Report on Accenture

Insider Activity at Accenture

In other news, General Counsel Joel Unruch sold 10,498 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the transaction, the general counsel directly owned 17,735 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,890,450.30. This trade represents a 37.18% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. 0.02% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Accenture Company Profile

(Free Report)

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.

See Also

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Institutional Ownership by Quarter for Accenture (NYSE:ACN)

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