VELA Investment Management LLC Has $2.27 Million Stock Holdings in Accenture PLC $ACN

VELA Investment Management LLC trimmed its holdings in shares of Accenture PLC (NYSE:ACN) by 32.4% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 18,276 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock after selling 8,757 shares during the period. VELA Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Accenture were worth $2,274,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Brighton Jones LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Accenture by 36.2% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 18,438 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $6,486,000 after purchasing an additional 4,905 shares during the period. Sivia Capital Partners LLC increased its stake in Accenture by 46.9% in the 2nd 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 period. United Bank lifted its position in Accenture by 49.8% in the 2nd quarter. United Bank now owns 3,639 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $1,088,000 after buying an additional 1,209 shares in the last quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia boosted its stake in shares of Accenture by 23.0% during the 2nd quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia now owns 828 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $247,000 after buying an additional 155 shares during the period. Finally, Main Street Financial Solutions LLC grew its holdings in shares of 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. 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 several recent research reports. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their price objective on Accenture from $270.00 to $230.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, June 18th. Weiss Ratings lowered Accenture from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 9th. Morgan Stanley cut their price target on Accenture from $177.00 to $130.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, June 22nd. UBS Group reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Accenture in a research note on Wednesday, August 26th. Finally, Wolfe Research increased their price objective on Accenture from $165.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 25th. Twelve research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fourteen have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Accenture presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $194.19.

Accenture Price Performance

Shares of Accenture stock opened at $186.53 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 1.34, a quick ratio of 1.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $161.92 and a 200-day simple moving average of $176.52. The stock has a market capitalization of $124.57 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.90, a PEG ratio of 1.50 and a beta of 1.10. Accenture PLC has a 1-year low of $118.15 and a 1-year high of $291.09.

Accenture (NYSE:ACN) last announced its 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. The firm had revenue of $18.72 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $18.78 billion. Accenture had a net margin of 10.66% and a return on equity of 26.47%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 5.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $3.49 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Accenture PLC will post 13.86 earnings per share for the current year.

Accenture Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 14th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, July 9th were paid a $1.63 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, July 9th. This represents a $6.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.5%. Accenture’s payout ratio is presently 52.08%.

Accenture announced that its Board of Directors has initiated 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 buy up to 2.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are usually an indication that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling at Accenture

In related news, General Counsel Joel Unruch sold 10,498 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 completion of the sale, the general counsel owned 17,735 shares in the company, valued at $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 is available through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Corporate insiders own 0.02% of the company’s stock.

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.