Dynamic Advisor Solutions LLC Buys 8,169 Shares of Accenture PLC $ACN

Dynamic Advisor Solutions LLC boosted its position in Accenture PLC (NYSE:ACN) by 72.4% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 19,455 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 8,169 shares during the period. Dynamic Advisor Solutions LLC’s holdings in Accenture were worth $2,421,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in 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 buying an additional 854,361 shares during the period. State Street Corp raised its stake in shares of Accenture by 0.5% during the 4th 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 period. Capital International Investors boosted its stake in Accenture by 2.0% in the 4th 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 during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Accenture by 1.5% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 14,656,436 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $3,922,212,000 after buying an additional 218,719 shares during the period. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased 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 period. Institutional investors own 75.14% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ACN has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on shares of Accenture from $247.00 to $201.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, June 8th. BMO Capital Markets reiterated a “market perform” rating and issued a $150.00 target price on shares of Accenture in a research note on Friday, June 19th. Evercore set a $180.00 price target on shares of Accenture in a report on Thursday, June 18th. BNP Paribas Exane decreased their price target on shares of Accenture from $180.00 to $130.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, June 26th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price objective on Accenture from $315.00 to $270.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, June 3rd. 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. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $192.96.

Insider Activity at Accenture

In other news, General Counsel Joel Unruch sold 10,498 shares of the 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 transaction, the general counsel directly owned 17,735 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,890,450.30. This represents a 37.18% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Company insiders own 0.02% of the company’s stock.

Accenture Price Performance

ACN stock opened at $175.49 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $151.64 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $187.15. The stock 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. Accenture PLC has a one year low of $118.15 and a one year high of $291.09. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a current ratio of 1.34 and a quick ratio of 1.34.

Accenture (NYSE:ACN) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 company had revenue of $18.72 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $18.78 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $3.49 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 5.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts predict that Accenture PLC will post 13.85 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Accenture Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 14th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, July 9th will be issued a $1.63 dividend. This represents a $6.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.7%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, July 9th. Accenture’s dividend payout ratio is presently 52.08%.

Accenture declared that its board has approved a stock repurchase program on Tuesday, June 23rd that allows the company to buyback $2.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the information technology services provider to purchase 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.

About Accenture

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.