Accenture PLC $ACN Shares Sold by Madison Asset Management LLC

Madison Asset Management LLC reduced its holdings in shares of Accenture PLC (NYSE:ACN) by 64.6% in the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 86,498 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock after selling 157,756 shares during the period. Madison Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Accenture were worth $17,152,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the business. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Accenture during the 4th quarter worth $2,146,995,000. Voloridge Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in Accenture in the third quarter valued at about $311,694,000. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Accenture by 15.9% during the fourth 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 in the last quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC boosted 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 worth $477,023,000 after buying an additional 1,097,961 shares during the period. Finally, FIL Ltd boosted its position 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 during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.14% of the company’s stock.

Accenture Price Performance

ACN stock opened at $144.63 on Tuesday. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $155.82 and its two-hundred day moving average is $197.97. Accenture PLC has a 52-week low of $118.15 and a 52-week high of $291.09. The company has a market capitalization of $96.58 billion, a PE ratio of 11.55, a P/E/G ratio of 1.49 and a beta of 1.13. The company has a quick ratio of 1.34, a current ratio of 1.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15.

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

Accenture declared that its board has approved a share repurchase program on Tuesday, June 23rd that permits the company to buyback $2.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the information technology services provider to buy up to 2.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are generally an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

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 $1.63 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, July 9th. This represents a $6.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.5%. Accenture’s payout ratio is presently 52.08%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Atsushi Egawa sold 4,872 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $177.14, for a total transaction of $863,026.08. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 12,802 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,267,746.28. This trade represents a 27.57% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Company insiders own 0.02% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ACN has been the topic of several analyst reports. Royal Bank Of Canada dropped their target price on Accenture from $253.00 to $175.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, June 22nd. Dbs Bank downgraded shares of Accenture from a “moderate buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 23rd. Guggenheim dropped their price objective on shares of Accenture from $225.00 to $185.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, June 22nd. Mizuho decreased their target price on shares of Accenture from $280.00 to $226.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, June 23rd. Finally, BMO Capital Markets reaffirmed a “market perform” rating and set a $150.00 price target on shares of Accenture in a research note on Friday, June 19th. Twelve analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fourteen have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Accenture presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $192.96.

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.