Cape ANN Savings Bank Cuts Stake in Accenture PLC $ACN

Cape ANN Savings Bank cut its stake in Accenture PLC (NYSE:ACN) by 50.6% during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 2,004 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock after selling 2,055 shares during the period. Cape ANN Savings Bank’s holdings in Accenture were worth $494,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Global Retirement Partners LLC purchased a new position in Accenture in the second quarter valued at about $2,658,000. C WorldWide Group Holding A S grew its stake in shares of Accenture by 35.9% in the second quarter. C WorldWide Group Holding A S now owns 8,148 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $2,435,000 after buying an additional 2,151 shares in the last quarter. Truist Financial Corp raised its holdings in shares of Accenture by 7.0% during the 2nd quarter. Truist Financial Corp now owns 436,202 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $130,376,000 after buying an additional 28,685 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Accenture in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $2,216,850,000. Finally, Redwood Investments LLC raised its stake in shares of Accenture by 6.2% during the first quarter. Redwood Investments LLC now owns 22,087 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $6,892,000 after purchasing an additional 1,287 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.14% of the company’s stock.

Accenture Stock Performance

ACN stock opened at $270.88 on Wednesday. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $253.89 and its 200 day simple moving average is $262.69. Accenture PLC has a 12-month low of $229.40 and a 12-month high of $398.35. The firm has a market cap of $178.37 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.39, a P/E/G ratio of 2.61 and a beta of 1.26. The company has a current ratio of 1.41, a quick ratio of 1.41 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16.

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

Accenture Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 13th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, January 13th will be issued a $1.63 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, January 13th. This represents a $6.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.4%. Accenture’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 53.88%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Accenture

In other news, insider Manish Sharma sold 6,902 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $250.01, for a total transaction of $1,725,569.02. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 1,860 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $465,018.60. This represents a 78.77% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Ryoji Sekido sold 2,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $249.47, for a total value of $623,675.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 1,390 shares in the company, valued at $346,763.30. The trade was a 64.27% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold a total of 33,319 shares of company stock worth $8,335,225 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.02% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on ACN shares. TD Cowen raised their price target on shares of Accenture from $295.00 to $300.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, December 19th. Robert W. Baird decreased their price objective on shares of Accenture from $350.00 to $330.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, September 26th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Accenture in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on Accenture from $302.00 to $290.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, September 26th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets reaffirmed a “market perform” rating and issued a $300.00 target price on shares of Accenture in a research report on Thursday, December 18th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have assigned a Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $298.29.

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.