Accenture PLC $ACN Shares Bought by CX Institutional

CX Institutional grew its holdings in shares of Accenture PLC (NYSE:ACN) by 38.0% in the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 43,213 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 11,899 shares during the period. CX Institutional’s holdings in Accenture were worth $5,377,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in ACN. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Accenture in the fourth quarter valued at $2,146,995,000. First Trust Advisors LP grew its holdings in Accenture by 120.0% during the 1st quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 3,482,150 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $690,475,000 after acquiring an additional 1,899,305 shares in the last quarter. Voloridge Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Accenture in the 3rd quarter worth about $311,694,000. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its stake in shares of Accenture by 15.9% in the 4th quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 8,173,338 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $2,192,907,000 after purchasing an additional 1,122,855 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Pzena Investment Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Accenture by 84.0% during the first quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC now owns 2,405,683 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $477,023,000 after purchasing an additional 1,097,961 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 75.14% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Accenture

In related news, General Counsel Joel Unruch sold 10,498 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $162.98, for a total value of $1,710,964.04. Following the completion of the transaction, the general counsel directly 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 filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. 0.02% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms recently commented on ACN. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on Accenture from $200.00 to $194.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, July 20th. Wolfe Research reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $200.00 target price on shares of Accenture in a report on Tuesday, June 16th. BMO Capital Markets reiterated a “market perform” rating and issued a $150.00 target price on shares of Accenture in a research report on Friday, June 19th. Susquehanna lowered their price target on Accenture from $186.00 to $140.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday, June 22nd. Finally, Dbs Bank lowered 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, fourteen have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Accenture presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $192.96.

Accenture Stock Up 2.9%

Accenture stock opened at $170.52 on Wednesday. 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 PLC has a one year low of $118.15 and a one year high of $291.09. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $152.15 and a 200-day simple moving average of $188.87. The firm has a market capitalization of $113.88 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.62, a P/E/G ratio of 1.71 and a beta of 1.09.

Accenture (NYSE:ACN) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, June 18th. The information technology services provider reported $3.80 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 firm had revenue of $18.72 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $18.78 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $3.49 EPS. Accenture’s quarterly revenue was up 5.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Accenture has set its FY 2026 guidance at 13.780-13.900 EPS. As a group, equities 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 buyback program on Tuesday, June 23rd that allows the company to buyback $2.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the information technology services provider to buy up to 2.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are often a sign that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Accenture Announces Dividend

The firm 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 dividend of $1.63 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, July 9th. This represents a $6.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.8%. Accenture’s payout ratio is currently 52.08%.

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.