Accenture PLC $ACN Shares Sold by C WorldWide Group Holding A S

C WorldWide Group Holding A S reduced its position in shares of Accenture PLC (NYSE:ACN) by 55.3% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 4,708 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock after selling 5,835 shares during the period. C WorldWide Group Holding A S’s holdings in Accenture were worth $934,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Accenture during the fourth quarter worth approximately $2,146,995,000. Voloridge Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in Accenture in the 3rd quarter valued at $311,694,000. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its stake in Accenture by 15.9% during the 4th quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 8,173,338 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $2,192,907,000 after purchasing an additional 1,122,855 shares during the last quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC raised its position 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 valued at $477,023,000 after buying an additional 1,097,961 shares during the last quarter. Finally, FIL Ltd lifted its stake in shares of Accenture by 33.5% in the fourth quarter. FIL Ltd now owns 3,921,049 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $1,052,017,000 after buying an additional 983,840 shares in the last quarter. 75.14% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Atsushi Egawa sold 4,872 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $177.14, for a total value of $863,026.08. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 12,802 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,267,746.28. The trade was a 27.57% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders own 0.02% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

ACN has been the subject of several research reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reaffirmed a “hold” rating and set a $136.00 price objective on shares of Accenture in a research note on Friday, July 10th. William Blair lowered Accenture from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, June 18th. Citigroup reduced their price objective on Accenture from $215.00 to $195.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, June 1st. Berenberg Bank lowered their price objective on Accenture from $273.00 to $220.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, June 17th. Finally, Mizuho cut their target price on Accenture from $280.00 to $226.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, June 23rd. Twelve equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fourteen have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $193.19.

Accenture Stock Up 5.6%

Shares of NYSE ACN opened at $144.68 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $96.62 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.56, a P/E/G ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.13. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a current ratio of 1.34 and a quick ratio of 1.34. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $157.11 and a 200-day simple moving average of $199.76. Accenture PLC has a 1 year low of $118.15 and a 1 year high of $291.09.

Accenture (NYSE:ACN) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, June 18th. The information technology services provider reported $3.80 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.70 by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $18.72 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations 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% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $3.49 earnings per share. Accenture has set its FY 2026 guidance at 13.780-13.900 EPS. On average, equities research analysts predict that Accenture PLC will post 13.85 earnings per share for the current year.

Accenture announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a share repurchase plan on Tuesday, June 23rd that authorizes the company to buyback $2.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the information technology services provider to repurchase up to 2.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are typically an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Accenture Announces Dividend

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

About Accenture

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.