VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al Buys Shares of 335,728 Accenture PLC $ACN

VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al bought a new position in shares of Accenture PLC (NYSE:ACNFree Report) during the second quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm bought 335,728 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $41,778,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of ACN. California State Teachers Retirement System raised its position in shares of Accenture by 12,316.0% in the 2nd quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 116,033,331 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $14,439,188,000 after acquiring an additional 115,098,783 shares during the period. Studio Investment Management LLC increased its stake in Accenture by 65.5% in the second quarter. Studio Investment Management LLC now owns 2,554 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $318,000 after purchasing an additional 1,011 shares in the last quarter. Ameritas Advisory Services LLC raised its holdings in Accenture by 148.0% in the second quarter. Ameritas Advisory Services LLC now owns 2,758 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $343,000 after purchasing an additional 1,646 shares during the period. Kintra Wealth LLC acquired a new position in shares of Accenture in the 2nd quarter valued at $171,000. Finally, Nilsine Partners LLC raised its stake in Accenture by 177.8% during the 2nd quarter. Nilsine Partners LLC now owns 18,466 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $2,298,000 after buying an additional 11,819 shares during the period. 75.14% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In related news, General Counsel Joel Unruch sold 10,498 shares of Accenture stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 30th. The stock was 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 owned 17,735 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,890,450.30. This trade represents a 37.18% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders own 0.02% of the company’s stock.

Accenture Stock Down 0.1%

NYSE:ACN opened at $186.53 on Monday. Accenture PLC has a twelve month low of $118.15 and a twelve month high of $291.09. The firm has a market capitalization of $124.57 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.90, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.50 and a beta of 1.10. The company has a quick ratio of 1.34, a current ratio of 1.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $161.92 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $176.52.

Accenture (NYSE:ACNGet Free Report) last released its earnings results on Friday, June 19th. The information technology services provider reported $3.80 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.70 by $0.10. Accenture had a net margin of 10.66% and a return on equity of 26.47%. 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 business earned $3.49 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 5.6% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts expect that Accenture PLC will post 13.86 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Accenture announced that its board has authorized a share repurchase 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 buy up to 2.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are often an indication that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Accenture Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 14th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, July 9th were paid a dividend of $1.63 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, July 9th. This represents a $6.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.5%. Accenture’s payout ratio is currently 52.08%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ACN has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Evercore set a $180.00 price target on Accenture in a report on Thursday, June 18th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on Accenture from $200.00 to $194.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, July 20th. UBS Group restated a “buy” rating on shares of Accenture in a report on Wednesday, August 26th. Royal Bank Of Canada cut their price target on shares of Accenture from $253.00 to $175.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, June 22nd. Finally, Susquehanna lowered their price objective on shares of Accenture from $186.00 to $140.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, June 22nd. Twelve analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fourteen have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $194.19.

Get Our Latest Stock Report on ACN

About Accenture

(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.

Recommended Stories

Want to see what other hedge funds are holding ACN? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Accenture PLC (NYSE:ACNFree Report).

Institutional Ownership by Quarter for Accenture (NYSE:ACN)

Receive News & Ratings for Accenture Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Accenture and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter.