Caldwell Investment Management Ltd. Invests $398,000 in Accenture PLC $ACN

Caldwell Investment Management Ltd. bought a new position in shares of Accenture PLC (NYSE:ACN) in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm bought 3,200 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $398,000.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of ACN. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Accenture during the fourth quarter worth about $27,000. McMillan Office Inc. bought a new position in shares of Accenture in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $27,000. University of Texas Texas AM Investment Management Co. acquired a new position in shares of Accenture in the 4th quarter worth approximately $27,000. Triumph Capital Management bought a new stake in Accenture during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $26,000. Finally, Lloyd Advisory Services LLC. acquired a new stake in Accenture during the 4th quarter valued at $35,000. 75.14% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Accenture news, General Counsel Joel Unruch sold 10,498 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Corporate insiders own 0.02% of the company’s stock.

Accenture Trading Up 2.0%

ACN stock opened at $185.04 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. Accenture PLC has a twelve month low of $118.15 and a twelve month high of $291.09. The company has a market cap of $123.57 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.78, a PEG ratio of 1.88 and a beta of 1.09. The business has a fifty day moving average of $151.90 and a 200-day moving average of $180.36.

Accenture (NYSE:ACN) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, June 19th. The information technology services provider reported $3.80 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 last year, the business earned $3.49 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 5.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Accenture PLC will post 13.85 EPS for the current year.

Accenture announced that its board has approved 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 buy up to 2.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are typically a sign that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Accenture Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 14th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, July 9th were paid a $1.63 dividend. 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 3.5%. Accenture’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 52.08%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have commented on the company. Royal Bank Of Canada reduced their price objective on Accenture from $253.00 to $175.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, June 22nd. William Blair lowered Accenture from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, June 18th. UBS Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $275.00 price target on shares of Accenture in a report on Wednesday, July 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on shares of Accenture from $247.00 to $201.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, June 8th. Finally, Argus lowered their price objective on shares of Accenture from $335.00 to $220.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, June 22nd. 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 company. According to MarketBeat.com, Accenture currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target 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.