Diamond Hill Capital Management LLC Investment Advisor Buys New Position in Accenture PLC $ACN

Diamond Hill Capital Management LLC Investment Advisor purchased a new position in shares of Accenture PLC (NYSE:ACN) during the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor purchased 609,402 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $75,834,000. Diamond Hill Capital Management LLC Investment Advisor owned 0.09% of Accenture at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in ACN. Triumph Capital Management acquired a new stake in Accenture during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $26,000. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Accenture in the fourth quarter worth $27,000. Dogwood Wealth Management LLC increased its position in shares of Accenture by 147.1% during 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 during the period. McMillan Office Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Accenture in the fourth quarter valued at $27,000. Finally, University of Texas Texas AM Investment Management Co. purchased a new position in Accenture in the fourth quarter valued at $27,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.14% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Accenture

In other news, General Counsel Joel Unruch sold 10,498 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 30th. The shares were 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 approximately $2,890,450.30. The trade was a 37.18% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing 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. Corporate insiders own 0.02% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

ACN has been the subject of several analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on Accenture from $200.00 to $194.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, July 20th. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their price objective on Accenture from $270.00 to $230.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, June 18th. Weiss Ratings downgraded Accenture from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 9th. BNP Paribas Exane cut their target price on shares of Accenture from $180.00 to $130.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, June 26th. Finally, Argus reduced their target price 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. Twelve investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fourteen have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $192.96.

Accenture Stock Down 0.2%

Shares of NYSE ACN opened at $176.60 on Monday. The business has a 50-day moving average of $151.15 and a two-hundred day moving average of $182.88. The company has a market capitalization of $117.94 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.11, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.83 and a beta of 1.09. Accenture PLC has a 1 year low of $118.15 and a 1 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 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 business had revenue of $18.72 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $18.78 billion. Accenture had a return on equity of 26.47% and a net margin of 10.66%.The business’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. On average, analysts forecast that Accenture PLC will post 13.85 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Accenture announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a share repurchase plan 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 purchase up to 2.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are typically an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Accenture Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 14th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, July 9th were issued a dividend of $1.63 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, July 9th. This represents a $6.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.7%. Accenture’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 52.08%.

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.