Accenture (NYSE:ACN) CEO Sells $1,101,650.68 in Stock

Accenture PLC (NYSE:ACN) CEO John Walsh sold 3,986 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $276.38, for a total transaction of $1,101,650.68. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 27,221 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,523,339.98. The trade was a 12.77% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink.

Accenture Trading Down 3.5%

Shares of ACN stock opened at $261.01 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $160.68 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.57, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.60 and a beta of 1.25. Accenture PLC has a 1 year low of $229.40 and a 1 year high of $398.35. The company has a current ratio of 1.41, a quick ratio of 1.41 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $270.28 and a 200 day simple moving average of $258.11.

Accenture (NYSE:ACN) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 analysts’ expectations of $18.51 billion. Accenture had a return on equity of 26.65% and a net margin of 10.76%.The company’s quarterly revenue was up 5.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $3.59 EPS. Accenture has set its FY 2026 guidance at 13.520-13.900 EPS. On average, research analysts predict that Accenture PLC will post 12.73 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Accenture Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 13th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, January 13th will be paid a dividend of $1.63 per share. This represents a $6.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.5%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, January 13th. Accenture’s dividend payout ratio is presently 53.88%.

Institutional Trading of Accenture

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Sanders Capital LLC acquired a new stake in Accenture during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $2,637,640,000. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Accenture in the second quarter worth $2,216,850,000. Capital International Investors increased its holdings in Accenture by 41.1% in the third quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 17,128,134 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $4,223,839,000 after purchasing an additional 4,984,930 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in Accenture by 2.1% during the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 65,129,782 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $19,466,641,000 after purchasing an additional 1,315,548 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Voloridge Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in Accenture during the 3rd quarter worth about $311,694,000. 75.14% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently issued reports on ACN. Guggenheim increased their price target on shares of Accenture from $285.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, December 15th. Wolfe Research upped their target price on Accenture from $300.00 to $330.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 11th. Susquehanna lifted their price target on Accenture from $270.00 to $277.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, December 19th. TD Cowen upped their price objective on Accenture from $295.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, December 19th. Finally, HSBC lifted their target price on Accenture from $215.00 to $235.00 in a research report on Friday, December 19th. Sixteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, twelve have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Accenture has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $298.38.

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.