Bright Rock Capital Management LLC Invests $7.47 Million in Accenture PLC $ACN

Bright Rock Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Accenture PLC (NYSE:ACN) during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm acquired 60,000 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $7,466,000. Accenture makes up 1.5% of Bright Rock Capital Management LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 27th biggest position.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Accenture during the 4th quarter worth approximately $27,000. McMillan Office Inc. bought a new position in shares of Accenture during the fourth quarter valued at $27,000. University of Texas Texas AM Investment Management Co. acquired a new position in shares of Accenture during the fourth quarter worth $27,000. Triumph Capital Management bought a new stake in shares of Accenture in the third quarter worth $26,000. Finally, Private Wealth Management Group LLC increased its holdings in Accenture by 96.4% in the fourth quarter. Private Wealth Management Group LLC now owns 108 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 53 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.14% of the company’s stock.

Accenture Stock Up 2.6%

Shares of NYSE ACN opened at $175.49 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.34, a current ratio of 1.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15. The firm has a market cap of $117.20 billion, a PE ratio of 14.02, a P/E/G ratio of 1.77 and a beta of 1.09. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $151.64 and its 200 day simple moving average is $187.15. Accenture PLC has a 12-month low of $118.15 and a 12-month high of $291.09.

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

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

Accenture Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 14th. Investors of record on Thursday, July 9th will be paid a dividend of $1.63 per share. This represents a $6.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, July 9th. Accenture’s dividend payout ratio is 52.08%.

Insider Transactions at Accenture

In other Accenture 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 value of $1,710,964.04. Following the transaction, the general counsel 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 sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders own 0.02% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have commented on ACN. Citigroup cut their target price on Accenture from $215.00 to $195.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, June 1st. BNP Paribas Exane lowered their price objective on Accenture from $180.00 to $130.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, June 26th. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their price objective on Accenture from $270.00 to $230.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, June 18th. TD Cowen downgraded shares of Accenture from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and decreased their target price for the company from $258.00 to $150.00 in a research report on Monday, June 22nd. Finally, Wolfe Research restated an “outperform” rating and set a $200.00 price target on shares of Accenture in a report on Tuesday, June 16th. Twelve research 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’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Accenture presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $192.96.

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.