Accenture (NYSE:ACN) CEO Sells $2,700,000.00 in Stock

Accenture PLC (NYSE:ACN) CEO Atsushi Egawa sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $270.00, for a total transaction of $2,700,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 5,996 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,618,920. This trade represents a 62.52% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan.

Accenture Trading Down 1.8%

Accenture stock opened at $260.36 on Friday. Accenture PLC has a 12 month low of $118.15 and a 12 month high of $291.09. The stock has a market cap of $153.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.20, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.00 and a beta of 1.01. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $210.35 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $191.91. The company has a quick ratio of 1.43, a current ratio of 1.43 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31.

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

Accenture Increases Dividend

The company 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 $1.71 dividend. This is an increase from Accenture’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.63. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, October 13th. This represents a $6.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.6%. Accenture’s payout ratio is 50.44%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their target price on shares of Accenture from $136.00 to $175.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, September 18th. Robert W. Baird lowered shares of Accenture from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and raised their target price for the company from $245.00 to $252.00 in a research note on Wednesday, October 21st. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on shares of Accenture from $175.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, October 2nd. Susquehanna boosted their price target on shares of Accenture from $210.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 15th. Finally, Wolfe Research increased their price objective on shares of Accenture from $165.00 to $215.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 25th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seventeen have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $221.07.

Key Headlines Impacting Accenture

Here are the key news stories impacting Accenture this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Accenture and Mondelēz International are applying agentic AI to redesign Mondelēz’s global order-to-cash operations, including ordering, invoicing and collections. The project showcases demand for Accenture’s AI services, though no contract value or expected revenue was disclosed. Accenture expands AI work with a major consumer goods customer
• Positive Sentiment: A valuation analysis says ACN trades at about 18 times forward earnings, below its 10-year average of 24 times, even after a strong recent rally. That could appeal to investors who see room for the valuation to recover. Accenture’s valuation analysis
• Neutral Sentiment: CEO Atsushi Egawa sold 10,000 shares for $2.7 million, reducing his direct holdings by about 62.5%. The sale was made under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 plan, so it is not necessarily a signal about his outlook for the company. Accenture CEO share sale
• Negative Sentiment: Accenture fell even as the market rose, indicating relative weakness in the session. The report describes the decline but does not point to a specific company catalyst. Accenture stock underperforms as the market gains

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Patrick M Sweeney & Associates Inc. increased its position in shares of Accenture by 2.0% during the third quarter. Patrick M Sweeney & Associates Inc. now owns 2,249 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $412,000 after acquiring an additional 45 shares in the last quarter. Alpine Bank Wealth Management raised its holdings in shares of Accenture by 18.3% during the third quarter. Alpine Bank Wealth Management now owns 323 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $59,000 after acquiring an additional 50 shares during the period. Alliance Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its position in Accenture by 2.9% in the 3rd quarter. Alliance Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,819 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $334,000 after acquiring an additional 51 shares in the last quarter. Hibernia Wealth Partners LLC lifted its position in Accenture by 4.5% in the 1st quarter. Hibernia Wealth Partners LLC now owns 1,354 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $269,000 after acquiring an additional 58 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Signature Equity Partners LLC boosted its stake in Accenture by 50.9% in the 3rd quarter. Signature Equity Partners LLC now owns 172 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 58 shares during the period. 75.14% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Accenture Company Profile

Accenture plc is a global professional services company that helps businesses, governments and other organizations solve operational and technology challenges. Its work includes strategy and management consulting, digital transformation, systems integration and the design, implementation and management of technology solutions.

The company serves clients across a broad range of industries and geographies. Its services span cloud computing, data and artificial intelligence, cybersecurity, software and platforms, business process operations, and digital marketing and customer experience.

Accenture traces its roots to the consulting business of accounting firm Arthur Andersen.