7,500 Shares in Accenture PLC $ACN Acquired by Cygnus Capital Advisors LLC

Cygnus Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Accenture PLC (NYSE:ACN) during the second quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm purchased 7,500 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $933,000.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Triumph Capital Management bought a new position in Accenture during the third quarter worth $26,000. Dogwood Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in Accenture by 147.1% in the second quarter. Dogwood Wealth Management LLC now owns 215 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 128 shares in the last quarter. McMillan Office Inc. bought a new position in shares of Accenture during the 4th quarter worth about $27,000. University of Texas Texas AM Investment Management Co. bought a new position in shares of Accenture during the 4th quarter worth about $27,000. Finally, IMG Wealth Management Inc. increased its position in Accenture by 134.8% in the 1st quarter. IMG Wealth Management Inc. now owns 155 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $31,000 after buying an additional 89 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 75.14% of the company’s stock.

Accenture Price Performance

Shares of NYSE ACN opened at $186.53 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $124.57 billion, a PE ratio of 14.90, a PEG ratio of 1.50 and a beta of 1.10. 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 stock’s 50 day moving average price is $163.15 and its 200-day moving average price is $176.29. Accenture PLC has a twelve month low of $118.15 and a twelve month high of $291.09.

Accenture (NYSE:ACN) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, June 19th. The information technology services provider reported $3.80 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 analyst estimates of $18.78 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $3.49 earnings per share. Accenture’s quarterly revenue was up 5.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Accenture PLC will post 13.86 EPS for the current year.

Accenture announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock buyback program on Tuesday, June 23rd that authorizes the company to buyback $2.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the information technology services provider to buy up to 2.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are generally an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Accenture Announces Dividend

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, General Counsel Joel Unruch sold 10,498 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 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 transaction 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. Insiders own 0.02% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have issued reports on the company. Evercore set a $180.00 price target on Accenture in a report on Thursday, June 18th. Oppenheimer set a $201.00 target price on Accenture in a research report on Monday, June 8th. BNP Paribas Exane cut their target price on Accenture from $180.00 to $130.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, June 26th. Argus decreased their price target on shares of Accenture from $335.00 to $220.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, June 22nd. Finally, Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on shares of Accenture from $177.00 to $130.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, June 22nd. 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $194.19.

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.