Accenture PLC $ACN Shares Bought by Clifford Swan Investment Counsel LLC

Clifford Swan Investment Counsel LLC grew its stake in Accenture PLC (NYSE:ACN) by 16.2% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 222,512 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 31,090 shares during the quarter. Clifford Swan Investment Counsel LLC’s holdings in Accenture were worth $27,689,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Brighton Jones LLC boosted its stake in shares of Accenture by 36.2% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 18,438 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $6,486,000 after acquiring an additional 4,905 shares during the last quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC raised its position in shares of Accenture by 46.9% in the second quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC now owns 2,066 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $618,000 after buying an additional 660 shares during the last quarter. United Bank raised its position in shares of Accenture by 49.8% in the second quarter. United Bank now owns 3,639 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $1,088,000 after buying an additional 1,209 shares during the last quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia lifted its stake in shares of Accenture by 23.0% in the second quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia now owns 828 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $247,000 after buying an additional 155 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Main Street Financial Solutions LLC grew its stake in Accenture by 4.2% during the 2nd quarter. Main Street Financial Solutions LLC now owns 1,767 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $528,000 after acquiring an additional 72 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.14% of the company’s stock.

Accenture Stock Up 0.2%

Shares of NYSE ACN opened at $190.02 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $126.90 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.18, a P/E/G ratio of 1.96 and a beta of 1.09. 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 company has a 50 day simple moving average of $157.03 and a 200-day simple moving average of $177.54. Accenture PLC has a 1 year low of $118.15 and a 1 year high of $291.09.

Accenture (NYSE:ACN) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 firm had revenue of $18.72 billion for 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 firm’s quarterly revenue was up 5.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $3.49 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts predict that Accenture PLC will post 13.85 earnings per share for the current year.

Accenture declared that its Board of Directors has approved a stock repurchase 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 repurchase up to 2.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are often an indication that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Accenture Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Accenture news, General Counsel Joel Unruch sold 10,498 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the general counsel owned 17,735 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,890,450.30. This represents a 37.18% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. 0.02% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have weighed in on ACN. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on shares of Accenture from $247.00 to $201.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, June 8th. Berenberg Bank dropped their price target on Accenture from $273.00 to $220.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, June 17th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on Accenture from $200.00 to $194.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, July 20th. Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on Accenture from $177.00 to $130.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, June 22nd. Finally, Oppenheimer set a $201.00 target price on Accenture in a research note on Monday, June 8th. Twelve investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fourteen have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $194.19.

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.