Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC Purchases 3,915 Shares of Accenture PLC $ACN

Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Accenture PLC (NYSE:ACN) by 23.2% in the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 20,774 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock after buying an additional 3,915 shares during the period. Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC’s holdings in Accenture were worth $5,123,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Sanders Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of Accenture during the 2nd quarter valued at about $2,637,640,000. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Accenture during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $2,216,850,000. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Accenture by 2.1% during the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 65,129,782 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $19,466,641,000 after acquiring an additional 1,315,548 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its position in Accenture by 12.8% in the third quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 10,147,796 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $2,502,446,000 after purchasing an additional 1,148,970 shares during the last quarter. Finally, McElhenny Sheffield Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in Accenture in the second quarter worth $308,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.14% of the company’s stock.

Accenture Price Performance

ACN opened at $261.01 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $160.68 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.57, a PEG ratio of 2.60 and a beta of 1.25. The company has a current ratio of 1.41, a quick ratio of 1.41 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. Accenture PLC has a 12-month low of $229.40 and a 12-month high of $398.35. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $270.28 and its 200-day simple moving average is $258.11.

Accenture (NYSE:ACN) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, December 18th. The information technology services provider reported $3.94 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.73 by $0.21. The company had revenue of $18.74 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $18.51 billion. Accenture had a net margin of 10.76% and a return on equity of 26.65%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $3.59 earnings per share. Accenture has set its FY 2026 guidance at 13.520-13.900 EPS. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Accenture PLC will post 12.73 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Accenture Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 13th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, January 13th will be issued a $1.63 dividend. This represents a $6.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, January 13th. Accenture’s payout ratio is currently 53.88%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have commented on the stock. Royal Bank Of Canada set a $300.00 price objective on shares of Accenture in a research note on Thursday, December 18th. HSBC lifted their price target on Accenture from $215.00 to $235.00 in a research report on Friday, December 19th. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Accenture in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their target price on Accenture from $270.00 to $280.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 8th. Finally, Rothschild & Co Redburn lifted their price objective on shares of Accenture from $205.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, January 5th. Sixteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $298.38.

Insider Buying and Selling at Accenture

In other news, insider Manish Sharma sold 2,731 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $288.13, for a total transaction of $786,883.03. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 7,057 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,033,333.41. This represents a 27.90% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Melissa A. Burgum sold 3,588 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $281.01, for a total value of $1,008,263.88. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 8,179 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,298,380.79. This represents a 30.49% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 21,934 shares of company stock valued at $5,965,166. Corporate insiders own 0.02% of the company’s stock.

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.