Dearborn Partners LLC Invests $25.11 Million in Accenture PLC $ACN

Dearborn Partners LLC bought a new stake in Accenture PLC (NYSE:ACN) during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm bought 126,620 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $25,108,000. Accenture comprises about 1.3% of Dearborn Partners LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 27th biggest holding.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Accenture during the 4th quarter worth about $2,146,995,000. Flossbach Von Storch SE purchased a new position in Accenture in the second quarter valued at approximately $309,873,000. First Trust Advisors LP lifted its position in Accenture by 120.0% during the first quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 3,482,150 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $690,475,000 after buying an additional 1,899,305 shares in the last quarter. Voloridge Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in Accenture during the third quarter worth approximately $311,694,000. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. raised its stake in shares of Accenture by 15.9% in the 4th quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 8,173,338 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $2,192,907,000 after acquiring an additional 1,122,855 shares during the period. 75.14% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

ACN has been the subject of a number of research reports. Guggenheim decreased their price target on shares of Accenture from $225.00 to $185.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, June 22nd. William Blair lowered Accenture from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, June 18th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on Accenture from $200.00 to $194.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, July 20th. Susquehanna lowered their target price on Accenture from $186.00 to $140.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, June 22nd. Finally, Dbs Bank lowered Accenture from a “moderate buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 23rd. Twelve equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fourteen have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Accenture presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $192.78.

Accenture Stock Up 0.7%

Shares of Accenture stock opened at $186.55 on Tuesday. Accenture PLC has a 1-year low of $118.15 and a 1-year high of $291.09. The company has a market capitalization of $124.58 billion, a PE ratio of 14.90, a P/E/G ratio of 1.92 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 business has a 50-day moving average of $152.32 and a 200-day moving average of $179.37.

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

Accenture Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced 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. This represents a $6.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.5%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, July 9th. Accenture’s dividend payout ratio is 52.08%.

Accenture announced that its board has authorized a stock buyback program on Tuesday, June 23rd that authorizes the company to repurchase $2.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the information technology services provider to reacquire up to 2.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are often a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling at Accenture

In related news, General Counsel Joel Unruch sold 10,498 shares of Accenture stock in a transaction on 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 completion of 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 sale was disclosed in a filing 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 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.