Clifford Swan Investment Counsel LLC Grows Stock Holdings in Accenture PLC $ACN

Clifford Swan Investment Counsel LLC lifted its position in Accenture PLC (NYSE:ACN) by 16.2% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 222,512 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock after buying an additional 31,090 shares during the quarter. Clifford Swan Investment Counsel LLC’s holdings in Accenture were worth $27,689,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of ACN. Triumph Capital Management acquired a new position in shares of Accenture in the third quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Dogwood Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Accenture by 147.1% in the second quarter. Dogwood Wealth Management LLC now owns 215 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $27,000 after acquiring an additional 128 shares in the last quarter. McMillan Office Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Accenture in the fourth quarter valued at $27,000. University of Texas Texas AM Investment Management Co. purchased a new position in Accenture in the fourth quarter valued at $27,000. Finally, IMG Wealth Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Accenture by 134.8% in the first quarter. IMG Wealth Management Inc. now owns 155 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 89 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.14% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on ACN shares. Robert W. Baird set a $190.00 price objective on Accenture in a research note on Thursday, June 18th. Mizuho decreased their price target on shares of Accenture from $280.00 to $226.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, June 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on shares of Accenture from $200.00 to $194.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, July 20th. Argus reduced their price objective on shares of Accenture from $335.00 to $220.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, June 22nd. Finally, Berenberg Bank dropped their target price on Accenture from $273.00 to $220.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, June 17th. 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 stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Accenture currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $194.19.

Insider Activity

In other 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 sale, the general counsel owned 17,735 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,890,450.30. The trade was a 37.18% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders own 0.02% of the company’s stock.

Accenture Stock Performance

Shares of Accenture stock opened at $190.02 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.34, a current ratio of 1.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15. Accenture PLC has a 52 week low of $118.15 and a 52 week high of $291.09. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $157.03 and its two-hundred day moving average is $177.54. The firm 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.

Accenture (NYSE:ACN) last issued its earnings results on Friday, June 19th. The information technology services provider reported $3.80 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.70 by $0.10. The business had revenue of $18.72 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $18.78 billion. Accenture had a net margin of 10.66% and a return on equity of 26.47%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $3.49 EPS. Research analysts forecast that Accenture PLC will post 13.85 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Accenture Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 14th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, July 9th were paid 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 dividend payout ratio is currently 52.08%.

Accenture declared that its board has initiated a share repurchase program on Tuesday, June 23rd that permits the company to buyback $2.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the information technology services provider to buy up to 2.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are often a sign that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

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.