AustralianSuper Pty Ltd Boosts Stock Position in Accenture PLC $ACN

AustralianSuper Pty Ltd increased its position in Accenture PLC (NYSE:ACN) by 59.7% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 16,462 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 6,157 shares during the quarter. AustralianSuper Pty Ltd’s holdings in Accenture were worth $4,060,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. increased its stake in shares of Accenture by 32.3% in the third quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 93,784 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $23,127,000 after purchasing an additional 22,897 shares in the last quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. boosted its holdings in Accenture by 854.9% in the 3rd quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 204,955 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $50,542,000 after buying an additional 183,491 shares during the period. J. Safra Sarasin Holding AG raised its holdings in Accenture by 31.3% during the third quarter. J. Safra Sarasin Holding AG now owns 9,532 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $2,351,000 after acquiring an additional 2,275 shares during the period. Paragon Private Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Accenture in the third quarter valued at about $211,000. Finally, Triton Financial Group Inc grew its position in shares of Accenture by 14.5% during the third quarter. Triton Financial Group Inc now owns 4,117 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $1,015,000 after purchasing an additional 522 shares in the last quarter. 75.14% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Accenture Trading Up 0.9%

Shares of ACN stock opened at $263.58 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $162.26 billion, a PE ratio of 21.78, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.52 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 stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $270.51 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $258.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 1.41 and a quick ratio of 1.41.

Accenture (NYSE:ACN) last released its quarterly 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 company had revenue of $18.74 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $18.51 billion. Accenture had a return on equity of 26.65% and a net margin of 10.76%.Accenture’s quarterly revenue was up 5.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $3.59 EPS. Accenture has set its FY 2026 guidance at 13.520-13.900 EPS. Research analysts predict that Accenture PLC will post 12.73 earnings per share for the current year.

Accenture Announces Dividend

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts recently commented on ACN shares. Rothschild & Co Redburn boosted their price target on Accenture from $205.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, January 5th. Truist Financial assumed coverage on shares of Accenture in a report on Tuesday, January 6th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $317.00 target price on the stock. Dbs Bank raised shares of Accenture from a “hold” rating to a “moderate buy” rating in a research note on Monday, October 27th. BMO Capital Markets reiterated a “market perform” rating and issued a $300.00 price target on shares of Accenture in a research note on Thursday, December 18th. Finally, TD Cowen raised their price objective on Accenture from $295.00 to $300.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, December 19th. Sixteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $298.38.

Insider Activity at Accenture

In related news, General Counsel Joel Unruch sold 1,332 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $275.00, for a total value of $366,300.00. Following the sale, the general counsel directly owned 28,207 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,756,925. This represents a 4.51% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Julie Spellman Sweet sold 5,917 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $246.62, for a total value of $1,459,250.54. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 8,599 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,120,685.38. This trade represents a 40.76% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold a total of 21,934 shares of company stock worth $5,965,166 in the last three months. 0.02% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.