Welch & Forbes LLC trimmed its stake in shares of Accenture PLC (NYSE:ACN – Free Report) by 4.4% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 84,177 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock after selling 3,877 shares during the period. Welch & Forbes LLC’s holdings in Accenture were worth $16,692,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.
A number of other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Teacher Retirement System of Texas increased its position in shares of Accenture by 27.7% during the 4th quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas now owns 282,340 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $75,752,000 after purchasing an additional 61,314 shares during the last quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Accenture by 197.2% in the fourth quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 141,484 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $37,960,000 after buying an additional 93,880 shares in the last quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank increased its holdings in Accenture by 36.6% during the fourth quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 557,516 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $149,582,000 after buying an additional 149,357 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in Accenture by 1.3% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 66,070,930 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $17,726,831,000 after acquiring an additional 854,361 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Swiss Life Asset Management Ltd lifted its stake in Accenture by 12.0% in the fourth quarter. Swiss Life Asset Management Ltd now owns 335,314 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $89,965,000 after acquiring an additional 36,037 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 75.14% of the company’s stock.
Wall Street Analyst Weigh In
Several research analysts have recently weighed in on ACN shares. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price objective on shares of Accenture from $315.00 to $270.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, June 3rd. UBS Group reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $275.00 price target on shares of Accenture in a report on Wednesday. Citigroup dropped their price objective on Accenture from $215.00 to $195.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, June 1st. Wolfe Research reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $200.00 price objective on shares of Accenture in a research report on Tuesday, June 16th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group decreased their target price on Accenture from $210.00 to $185.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, June 15th. Twelve equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fourteen have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $193.19.
Insider Activity at Accenture
In other news, CEO Atsushi Egawa sold 4,872 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $177.14, for a total value of $863,026.08. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 12,802 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,267,746.28. This trade represents a 27.57% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Company insiders own 0.02% of the company’s stock.
Accenture Stock Performance
NYSE:ACN traded down $3.87 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $135.19. 7,631,871 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 12,515,054. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $160.28 and its 200 day simple moving average is $203.94. The stock has a market capitalization of $90.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.80, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.13. Accenture PLC has a fifty-two week low of $118.15 and a fifty-two 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.
Accenture (NYSE:ACN – Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, June 18th. The information technology services provider reported $3.80 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.70 by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $18.72 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $18.78 billion. Accenture had a return on equity of 26.47% and a net margin of 10.66%.The company’s quarterly revenue was up 5.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $3.49 EPS. Accenture has set its FY 2026 guidance at 13.780-13.900 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Accenture PLC will post 13.85 EPS for the current fiscal year.
Accenture Announces Dividend
The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 14th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, July 9th will be issued a dividend of $1.63 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, July 9th. This represents a $6.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.8%. Accenture’s payout ratio is 52.08%.
Accenture announced that its board has authorized a stock buyback plan on Tuesday, June 23rd that permits the company to buyback $2.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the information technology services provider to reacquire up to 2.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are generally an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.
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.
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