Bontempo Ohly Capital Mgmt LLC Buys New Position in Accenture PLC $ACN

Bontempo Ohly Capital Mgmt LLC purchased a new position in Accenture PLC (NYSE:ACN) during the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm purchased 17,926 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $2,231,000. Accenture makes up 1.0% of Bontempo Ohly Capital Mgmt LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 27th largest holding.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Accenture in the fourth quarter valued at about $27,000. McMillan Office Inc. acquired a new position in Accenture in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $27,000. University of Texas Texas AM Investment Management Co. acquired a new position in Accenture in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Triumph Capital Management acquired a new stake in shares of Accenture during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $26,000. Finally, Lloyd Advisory Services LLC. acquired a new stake in shares of Accenture during the 4th quarter worth approximately $35,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.14% of the company’s stock.

Accenture Stock Down 2.9%

Shares of NYSE ACN opened at $181.58 on Thursday. Accenture PLC has a 52-week low of $118.15 and a 52-week high of $291.09. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a quick ratio of 1.34 and a current ratio of 1.34. The business has a fifty day moving average of $153.25 and a two-hundred day moving average of $178.62. The stock has a market cap of $121.26 billion, a PE ratio of 14.50, a PEG ratio of 1.93 and a beta of 1.09.

Accenture (NYSE:ACN) last released 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. The firm had revenue of $18.72 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $18.78 billion. Accenture had a net margin of 10.66% and a return on equity of 26.47%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $3.49 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Accenture PLC will post 13.85 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Accenture declared that its board has authorized a stock repurchase program 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 programs are generally a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Accenture Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 14th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, July 9th were given a $1.63 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, July 9th. This represents a $6.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.6%. Accenture’s payout ratio is presently 52.08%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Accenture 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 sale, the general counsel owned 17,735 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,890,450.30. This represents a 37.18% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed 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.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ACN has been the subject of several research reports. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their target price on Accenture from $315.00 to $270.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, June 3rd. William Blair lowered shares of Accenture from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, June 18th. Berenberg Bank dropped their price objective on shares of Accenture from $273.00 to $220.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, June 17th. Oppenheimer set a $201.00 target price on shares of Accenture in a research report on Monday, June 8th. Finally, Citigroup raised their price target on shares of Accenture from $135.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday. Twelve investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fourteen have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $194.19.

Accenture 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.