Accenture PLC $ACN Stock Position Increased by Mn Services Vermogensbeheer B.V.

Mn Services Vermogensbeheer B.V. boosted its holdings in Accenture PLC (NYSE:ACN) by 1.3% in the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 181,278 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,400 shares during the quarter. Mn Services Vermogensbeheer B.V.’s holdings in Accenture were worth $33,241,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Flossbach Von Storch SE bought a new stake in shares of Accenture during the 2nd quarter valued at $309,873,000. First Trust Advisors LP increased its position in shares of Accenture by 120.0% during the first quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 3,482,150 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $690,475,000 after buying an additional 1,899,305 shares during the period. Pzena Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Accenture by 84.0% in 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 buying an additional 1,097,961 shares in the last quarter. Ruane Cunniff & Goldfarb L.P. bought a new position in shares of Accenture in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $253,120,000. Finally, Artemis Investment Management LLP grew its stake in Accenture by 67.6% during the third quarter. Artemis Investment Management LLP now owns 2,196,789 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $402,825,000 after acquiring an additional 885,687 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.14% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Accenture

In related news, General Counsel Joel Unruch sold 10,498 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 sale, the general counsel owned 17,735 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,890,450.30. This trade represents a 37.18% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale 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 corporate insiders.

Accenture Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:ACN opened at $208.73 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.43, a quick ratio of 1.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $183.68 and a 200-day moving average price of $173.44. The company has a market cap of $139.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.39, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 1.11. Accenture PLC has a 12 month low of $118.15 and a 12 month high of $291.09.

Accenture (NYSE:ACN) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 1st. The information technology services provider reported $3.29 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.18 by $0.11. The company had revenue of $18.68 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $18.03 billion. Accenture had a return on equity of 26.53% and a net margin of 11.28%.Accenture’s revenue was up 6.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $3.03 EPS. Accenture has set its FY 2027 guidance at 14.390-14.810 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Accenture PLC will post 14.68 EPS for the current year.

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

Accenture Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 13th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, October 13th will be paid a dividend of $1.71 per share. This represents a $6.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.3%. This is a boost from Accenture’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.63. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, October 13th. Accenture’s payout ratio is presently 48.08%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on the company. DA Davidson lowered their price objective on Accenture from $275.00 to $175.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, June 23rd. Argus boosted their target price on Accenture from $220.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, October 2nd. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target on Accenture from $230.00 to $260.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 1st. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on Accenture from $175.00 to $195.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, October 2nd. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (d+)” rating on shares of Accenture in a report on Tuesday. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fourteen have assigned a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Accenture presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $219.15.

Accenture Profile

Accenture plc (NYSE: ACN) is a global professional services company that helps organizations improve performance, modernize operations and respond to technological and market changes. Its services span strategy and consulting, technology, operations, and managed services, with expertise across industries including communications, financial services, health care, public service, retail, manufacturing and resources.

The company provides digital transformation, cloud migration, data and artificial intelligence, cybersecurity, systems integration and technology implementation services.