Empowered Funds LLC Boosts Position in Accenture PLC $ACN

Empowered Funds LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Accenture PLC (NYSE:ACN) by 40.2% in the first quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 182,581 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 52,358 shares during the period. Empowered Funds LLC’s holdings in Accenture were worth $36,204,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Evelyn Partners Asset Management Ltd boosted its stake in shares of Accenture by 1.4% during the 1st quarter. Evelyn Partners Asset Management Ltd now owns 24,767 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $4,911,000 after purchasing an additional 339 shares in the last quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company lifted its holdings in Accenture by 24.3% in the first quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 2,384,954 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $472,913,000 after buying an additional 466,452 shares during the period. IMG Wealth Management Inc. boosted its position in Accenture by 134.8% during the 1st quarter. IMG Wealth Management Inc. now owns 155 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $31,000 after acquiring an additional 89 shares in the last quarter. Excelsior Advisor Network LLC grew its holdings in shares of Accenture by 2.0% during the 1st quarter. Excelsior Advisor Network LLC now owns 3,323 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $659,000 after acquiring an additional 66 shares during the period. Finally, Lazard Asset Management LLC raised its position in shares of Accenture by 26.9% in the 1st quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 1,443,886 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $286,308,000 after acquiring an additional 306,303 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 75.14% of the company’s stock.

Accenture Stock Performance

Shares of ACN opened at $154.22 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.34, a current ratio of 1.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15. The stock has a market cap of $102.99 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.32, a P/E/G ratio of 1.52 and a beta of 1.13. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $153.46 and its 200-day moving average price is $193.65. Accenture PLC has a 52 week low of $118.15 and a 52 week high of $291.09.

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

Accenture Announces Dividend

The business 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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.2%. Accenture’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 52.08%.

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ACN has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Robert W. Baird set a $190.00 target price on Accenture in a research note on Thursday, June 18th. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price objective on Accenture from $315.00 to $270.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, June 3rd. Evercore set a $180.00 price objective on Accenture in a research report on Thursday, June 18th. TD Cowen cut shares of Accenture from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and dropped their target price for the company from $258.00 to $150.00 in a report on Monday, June 22nd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on shares of Accenture from $247.00 to $201.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, June 8th. Twelve research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fourteen have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $192.96.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Atsushi Egawa sold 4,872 shares of the company’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 transaction, the chief executive officer owned 12,802 shares in the company, valued at $2,267,746.28. The trade was a 27.57% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 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 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.