Legal & General Group Plc Raises Stock Position in Accenture PLC $ACN

Legal & General Group Plc increased its position in shares of Accenture PLC (NYSE:ACN) by 4.9% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 4,951,937 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 230,641 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc’s holdings in Accenture were worth $1,221,148,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of ACN. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Accenture by 2.1% in the second quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 65,129,782 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $19,466,641,000 after buying an additional 1,315,548 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its position in shares of Accenture by 1.2% during the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 28,016,605 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $8,373,925,000 after acquiring an additional 326,979 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Accenture by 1.1% in the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 14,042,843 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $4,182,331,000 after purchasing an additional 147,931 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its stake in Accenture by 12.8% in the third quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 10,147,796 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $2,502,446,000 after purchasing an additional 1,148,970 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sanders Capital LLC bought a new stake in Accenture during the second quarter valued at approximately $2,637,640,000. 75.14% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Accenture Price Performance

Shares of Accenture stock opened at $209.18 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 1.41 and a quick ratio of 1.41. Accenture PLC has a one year low of $188.73 and a one year high of $339.90. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $247.40 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $250.32. The stock has a market capitalization of $128.77 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.29, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.07 and a beta of 1.28.

Accenture (NYSE:ACN) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, December 18th. The information technology services provider reported $3.94 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.73 by $0.21. Accenture had a return on equity of 26.65% and a net margin of 10.76%.The firm had revenue of $18.74 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $18.51 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $3.59 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 5.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Accenture has set its FY 2026 guidance at 13.520-13.900 EPS. Analysts forecast that Accenture PLC will post 12.73 EPS for the current year.

Accenture Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 13th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, January 13th were issued a $1.63 dividend. This represents a $6.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, January 13th. Accenture’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 53.88%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently commented on ACN. Argus decreased their price target on shares of Accenture from $370.00 to $335.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, December 29th. Royal Bank Of Canada set a $300.00 target price on shares of Accenture in a research report on Thursday, December 18th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price target on Accenture from $270.00 to $280.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 8th. Rothschild & Co Redburn upped their price objective on Accenture from $205.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, January 5th. Finally, Truist Financial initiated coverage on Accenture in a research report on Tuesday, January 6th. They set a “buy” rating and a $317.00 price objective on the stock. Sixteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eleven have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Accenture has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $291.69.

Insider Transactions at Accenture

In other news, CAO Melissa A. Burgum sold 3,588 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $281.01, for a total transaction of $1,008,263.88. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 8,179 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,298,380.79. This represents a 30.49% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, General Counsel Joel Unruch sold 1,332 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $275.00, for a total transaction of $366,300.00. Following the sale, the general counsel owned 28,207 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,756,925. This represents a 4.51% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last three months, insiders have sold 22,088 shares of company stock valued at $5,970,434. Company insiders own 0.02% of the company’s stock.

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.