Czech National Bank Acquires 7,175 Shares of Accenture PLC $ACN

Czech National Bank increased its holdings in shares of Accenture PLC (NYSE:ACN) by 4.3% during the second quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 174,751 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock after buying an additional 7,175 shares during the period. Czech National Bank’s holdings in Accenture were worth $21,746,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Accenture by 1.3% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 66,070,930 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $17,726,831,000 after acquiring an additional 854,361 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its stake in Accenture by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 28,264,675 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $7,583,462,000 after purchasing an additional 129,610 shares during the last quarter. Capital International Investors raised its holdings in Accenture by 2.0% in the fourth quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 17,471,554 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $4,687,867,000 after purchasing an additional 343,420 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Accenture by 1.5% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 14,656,436 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $3,922,212,000 after purchasing an additional 218,719 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its position in shares of Accenture by 5.4% during the fourth quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 10,693,994 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $2,869,199,000 after buying an additional 546,198 shares during the last quarter. 75.14% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Accenture

In other news, General Counsel Joel Unruch sold 10,498 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $162.98, for a total value of $1,710,964.04. Following the completion of the transaction, the general counsel directly owned 17,735 shares in the company, valued at $2,890,450.30. This trade represents a 37.18% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 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 Up 2.6%

NYSE:ACN opened at $175.49 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.34, a quick ratio of 1.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15. Accenture PLC has a twelve month low of $118.15 and a twelve month high of $291.09. The company has a market cap of $117.20 billion, a PE ratio of 14.02, a P/E/G ratio of 1.77 and a beta of 1.09. The company’s 50 day moving average is $151.64 and its two-hundred day moving average is $187.15.

Accenture (NYSE:ACN) last posted its quarterly 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. 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 quarter last year, the company posted $3.49 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 5.6% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts anticipate that Accenture PLC will post 13.85 EPS for the current year.

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 stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are often an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Accenture Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 14th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, July 9th will be given a dividend of $1.63 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend 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%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on ACN. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reaffirmed a “hold” rating and issued a $136.00 price objective on shares of Accenture in a research report on Friday, July 10th. Dbs Bank downgraded shares of Accenture from a “moderate buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 23rd. Citigroup cut their price target on shares of Accenture from $215.00 to $195.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, June 1st. Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on Accenture from $177.00 to $130.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, June 22nd. Finally, Weiss Ratings cut Accenture from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 9th. Twelve research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fourteen have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $192.96.

Accenture 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.