Ironwood Investment Counsel LLC Acquires 6,785 Shares of Accenture PLC $ACN

Ironwood Investment Counsel LLC grew its holdings in Accenture PLC (NYSE:ACN) by 17.1% in the first quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 46,540 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 6,785 shares during the period. Accenture makes up 1.3% of Ironwood Investment Counsel LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 15th biggest position. Ironwood Investment Counsel LLC’s holdings in Accenture were worth $9,229,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. Brighton Jones LLC grew its stake in shares of Accenture by 36.2% in the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 18,438 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $6,486,000 after purchasing an additional 4,905 shares during the period. Sivia Capital Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of Accenture by 46.9% during the 2nd quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC now owns 2,066 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $618,000 after buying an additional 660 shares during the period. United Bank boosted its stake in Accenture by 49.8% in the 2nd quarter. United Bank now owns 3,639 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $1,088,000 after buying an additional 1,209 shares in the last quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia grew its position in Accenture by 23.0% in the second quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia now owns 828 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $247,000 after acquiring an additional 155 shares during the period. Finally, Main Street Financial Solutions LLC grew its position in Accenture by 4.2% in the second quarter. Main Street Financial Solutions LLC now owns 1,767 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $528,000 after acquiring an additional 72 shares during the period. 75.14% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have issued reports on ACN shares. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on Accenture from $177.00 to $130.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, June 22nd. TD Cowen cut shares of Accenture from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and dropped their target price for the stock from $258.00 to $150.00 in a research report on Monday, June 22nd. Berenberg Bank reduced their price target on shares of Accenture from $273.00 to $220.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, June 17th. Weiss Ratings cut shares of Accenture from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 9th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price objective on shares of Accenture from $270.00 to $230.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, June 18th. 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 MarketBeat.com, Accenture currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $193.19.

Accenture Price Performance

Shares of ACN stock opened at $143.56 on Monday. Accenture PLC has a 52 week low of $118.15 and a 52 week high of $291.09. The stock has a market capitalization of $95.87 billion, a PE ratio of 11.47, a PEG ratio of 1.49 and a beta of 1.13. 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 stock’s fifty day moving average is $156.38 and its 200-day moving average is $198.86.

Accenture (NYSE:ACN) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, June 18th. The information technology services provider reported $3.80 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.70 by $0.10. Accenture had a net margin of 10.66% and a return on equity of 26.47%. The business had revenue of $18.72 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $18.78 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $3.49 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 5.6% on a year-over-year basis. Accenture has set its FY 2026 guidance at 13.780-13.900 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that Accenture PLC will post 13.85 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Accenture Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 14th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, July 9th will be given a dividend of $1.63 per share. This represents a $6.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.5%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, July 9th. Accenture’s dividend payout ratio is presently 52.08%.

Accenture declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share buyback plan on Tuesday, June 23rd that permits the company to repurchase $2.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the information technology services provider to purchase up to 2.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are generally a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Activity at Accenture

In other news, CEO Atsushi Egawa sold 4,872 shares of the 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 sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 12,802 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,267,746.28. This represents a 27.57% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, 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 owned by company insiders.

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.