Greenleaf Trust Sells 3,482 Shares of Accenture PLC $ACN

Greenleaf Trust decreased its stake in shares of Accenture PLC (NYSE:ACN) by 16.9% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 17,154 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock after selling 3,482 shares during the period. Greenleaf Trust’s holdings in Accenture were worth $2,135,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Holt Capital Advisors L.L.C. dba Holt Capital Partners L.P. increased its stake in Accenture by 0.9% in the 3rd quarter. Holt Capital Advisors L.L.C. dba Holt Capital Partners L.P. now owns 4,416 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $1,089,000 after buying an additional 41 shares during the last quarter. Peak Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Accenture by 0.8% in the 4th quarter. Peak Asset Management LLC now owns 5,447 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $1,461,000 after acquiring an additional 43 shares in the last quarter. SkyView Investment Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Accenture by 1.2% in the second quarter. SkyView Investment Advisors LLC now owns 3,751 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $1,108,000 after acquiring an additional 43 shares during the last quarter. Intrua Financial LLC raised its holdings in Accenture by 3.3% during the fourth quarter. Intrua Financial LLC now owns 1,442 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $387,000 after acquiring an additional 46 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Hazlett Burt & Watson Inc. boosted its position in Accenture by 10.0% during the fourth quarter. Hazlett Burt & Watson Inc. now owns 516 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $139,000 after purchasing an additional 47 shares during the last quarter. 75.14% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Susquehanna dropped their price objective on Accenture from $186.00 to $140.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, June 22nd. William Blair downgraded shares of Accenture from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, June 18th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reaffirmed a “hold” rating and set a $136.00 price target on shares of Accenture in a research report on Friday, July 10th. TD Cowen boosted their price objective on shares of Accenture from $151.00 to $173.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 26th. Finally, Citigroup upped their target price on shares of Accenture from $135.00 to $190.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, August 24th. Twelve investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fourteen have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $194.19.

Accenture Price Performance

NYSE:ACN opened at $189.58 on Monday. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $155.72 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $177.90. 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 company has a market cap of $126.60 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.14, a P/E/G ratio of 1.96 and a beta of 1.09. Accenture PLC has a one year low of $118.15 and a one year high of $291.09.

Accenture (NYSE:ACN) last announced its quarterly earnings results 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. Accenture had a net margin of 10.66% and a return on equity of 26.47%. The business had revenue of $18.72 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $18.78 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $3.49 EPS. Accenture’s quarterly revenue was up 5.6% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts expect that Accenture PLC will post 13.85 earnings per share for the current year.

Accenture Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 14th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, July 9th were issued a $1.63 dividend. This represents a $6.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, July 9th. Accenture’s dividend payout ratio is currently 52.08%.

Accenture declared that its board has approved a share buyback program on Tuesday, June 23rd that authorizes the company to buyback $2.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the information technology services provider to reacquire up to 2.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are often an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling at Accenture

In related news, General Counsel Joel Unruch sold 10,498 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 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 ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible 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.

Accenture Company 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.