Swedbank AB Sells 297,843 Shares of Accenture PLC $ACN

Swedbank AB trimmed its holdings in shares of Accenture PLC (NYSE:ACN) by 19.2% in the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 1,253,452 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock after selling 297,843 shares during the quarter. Swedbank AB’s holdings in Accenture were worth $248,547,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Board of the Pension Protection Fund bought a new stake in Accenture during the 4th quarter valued at about $27,000. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in Accenture in the 4th quarter worth about $27,000. McMillan Office Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Accenture during the fourth quarter worth approximately $27,000. University of Texas Texas AM Investment Management Co. bought a new stake in shares of Accenture during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Finally, Triumph Capital Management purchased a new stake in shares of Accenture in the third quarter valued at approximately $26,000. 75.14% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Accenture

In related news, CEO Atsushi Egawa sold 4,872 shares of the business’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 transaction of $863,026.08. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 12,802 shares in the company, valued at $2,267,746.28. The trade was a 27.57% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. 0.02% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Accenture Stock Up 4.6%

Shares of NYSE ACN traded up $6.29 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $143.25. 2,293,795 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 7,167,063. Accenture PLC has a 1 year low of $118.15 and a 1 year high of $307.77. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $164.30 and a 200 day moving average of $208.17. The stock has a market cap of $95.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.40, a P/E/G ratio of 1.36 and a beta of 1.13. 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 (NYSE:ACN) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, June 18th. 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. The company had revenue of $18.72 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $18.78 billion. Accenture had a return on equity of 26.47% and a net margin of 10.66%.The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 5.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $3.49 earnings per share. Accenture has set its FY 2026 guidance at 13.780-13.900 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that Accenture PLC will post 13.85 earnings per share for the current year.

Accenture declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share repurchase program on Tuesday, June 23rd that allows the company to buyback $2.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the information technology services provider to repurchase up to 2.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are typically an indication that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Accenture Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 14th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, July 9th will be given a $1.63 dividend. 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 4.6%. Accenture’s payout ratio is presently 52.08%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have commented on the company. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their price objective on Accenture from $270.00 to $230.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, June 18th. DA Davidson lowered their target price on Accenture from $275.00 to $175.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, June 23rd. Evercore set a $180.00 price target on Accenture in a research report on Thursday, June 18th. Truist Financial lowered their price objective on shares of Accenture from $210.00 to $150.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, June 22nd. Finally, Dbs Bank downgraded shares of Accenture from a “moderate buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 23rd. Twelve research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and fifteen have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $195.00.

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.