National Pension Service Grows Stock Holdings in Accenture PLC $ACN

National Pension Service boosted its holdings in Accenture PLC (NYSE:ACN) by 2.7% in the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 1,344,740 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock after buying an additional 35,275 shares during the period. National Pension Service’s holdings in Accenture were worth $331,613,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. Investors Research Corp grew its holdings in Accenture by 73.8% during the 3rd quarter. Investors Research Corp now owns 106 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 45 shares in the last quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. grew its stake in Accenture by 132.6% during the third quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 107 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 61 shares in the last quarter. Davis Capital Management bought a new stake in Accenture in the 3rd quarter valued at $28,000. RMG Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Accenture in the 2nd quarter worth $33,000. Finally, Elevation Wealth Partners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Accenture by 146.0% during the 3rd quarter. Elevation Wealth Partners LLC now owns 123 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 73 shares during the last quarter. 75.14% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms recently commented on ACN. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their target price on Accenture from $270.00 to $280.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 8th. Citigroup raised Accenture to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, October 23rd. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Accenture in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Susquehanna upped their price target on shares of Accenture from $270.00 to $277.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, December 19th. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut shares of Accenture from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, October 11th. Sixteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Accenture presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $298.38.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Julie Spellman Sweet sold 1,694 shares of Accenture stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $288.30, for a total transaction of $488,380.20. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 37,346 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,766,851.80. This trade represents a 4.34% 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 this link. Also, CAO Melissa A. Burgum sold 3,588 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $281.01, for a total transaction of $1,008,263.88. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 8,179 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,298,380.79. The trade was a 30.49% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 21,934 shares of company stock valued at $5,965,166. Insiders own 0.02% of the company’s stock.

Accenture Price Performance

ACN stock opened at $263.58 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $162.26 billion, a PE ratio of 21.78, a P/E/G ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 1.25. Accenture PLC has a 12 month low of $229.40 and a 12 month high of $398.35. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $270.51 and a 200 day moving average price of $258.00. 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 posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, December 18th. The information technology services provider reported $3.94 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.73 by $0.21. Accenture had a net margin of 10.76% and a return on equity of 26.65%. The company had revenue of $18.74 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $18.51 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $3.59 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.7% on a year-over-year basis. Accenture has set its FY 2026 guidance at 13.520-13.900 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that Accenture PLC will post 12.73 earnings per share for the current year.

Accenture Dividend Announcement

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

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.