Accenture PLC $ACN Shares Purchased by Capital Investment Advisors LLC

Capital Investment Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Accenture PLC (NYSE:ACN) by 48.4% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 32,255 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 10,518 shares during the period. Capital Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in Accenture were worth $8,654,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of ACN. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Accenture in the second quarter valued at approximately $2,216,850,000. Capital International Investors lifted its position in Accenture by 41.1% during the third quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 17,128,134 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $4,223,839,000 after buying an additional 4,984,930 shares in the last quarter. Voloridge Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in Accenture during the third quarter worth approximately $311,694,000. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its stake in Accenture by 12.8% during the third quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 10,147,796 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $2,502,446,000 after buying an additional 1,148,970 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Capital World Investors purchased a new stake in Accenture in the 3rd quarter valued at $268,578,000. 75.14% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have recently commented on the company. Royal Bank Of Canada reduced their price target on Accenture from $295.00 to $253.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, March 20th. Evercore restated an “outperform” rating and set a $300.00 price objective on shares of Accenture in a research report on Thursday, December 18th. Susquehanna lifted their target price on shares of Accenture from $270.00 to $277.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, December 19th. Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on shares of Accenture from $320.00 to $240.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, March 16th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut their price target on shares of Accenture from $280.00 to $230.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Friday, March 6th. Eighteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and ten have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $274.88.

Insider Activity at Accenture

In other news, CEO John F. Walsh sold 3,986 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 27,221 shares in the company, valued at $7,523,339.98. This trade represents a 12.77% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CAO Melissa A. Burgum sold 3,588 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, January 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $281.01, for a total value of $1,008,263.88. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer owned 8,179 shares in the company, valued at $2,298,380.79. This represents a 30.49% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold 22,088 shares of company stock valued at $5,970,434 over the last ninety days. 0.02% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Accenture Trading Down 1.9%

NYSE ACN opened at $192.60 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 1.34 and a quick ratio of 1.34. The stock has a market capitalization of $118.57 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.77, a PEG ratio of 1.86 and a beta of 1.27. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $225.44 and its two-hundred day moving average is $244.67. Accenture PLC has a 12 month low of $187.00 and a 12 month high of $325.71.

Accenture (NYSE:ACN) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 19th. The information technology services provider reported $2.93 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.84 by $0.09. Accenture had a net margin of 10.61% and a return on equity of 26.33%. The business had revenue of $18.04 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $17.80 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $2.82 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate 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, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 9th will be paid a dividend of $1.63 per share. This represents a $6.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.4%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 9th. Accenture’s dividend payout ratio is 53.40%.

More Accenture News

Here are the key news stories impacting Accenture this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Accenture launched Cyber.AI, an AI-driven cybersecurity platform powered by Anthropic’s Claude, positioning ACN to capture enterprise spend on AI-native security operations and managed detection/response. Accenture and Anthropic Team to Help Organizations Secure, Scale AI-Driven Cybersecurity Operations
• Positive Sentiment: UBS highlighted the Accenture–Anthropic cybersecurity tie-up as supportive of ACN’s AI strategy, reinforcing analyst confidence that the new offering strengthens long-term growth potential in AI security. Accenture-Anthropic cybersecurity partnership seen strengthening AI thesis, says UBS
• Positive Sentiment: Accenture invested in and partnered with DaVinci Commerce to bring agentic AI commerce capabilities into Accenture Song, expanding addressable market in digital transactions and commerce automation. This supports the company’s push to monetize AI agents across enterprise functions. ACN Continues to Focus on AI Development: Is it a Growth Catalyst?
• Positive Sentiment: Truist reiterated a Buy and pointed to record bookings (~$22B) and better-than-expected Q2 results as signs of durable demand — a near-term fundamental positive even as costs rise. Accenture (ACN) Rated Buy on Strong Bookings Growth
• Neutral Sentiment: Analyst commentary (Zacks/Yahoo) urges retaining ACN for steady growth from AI-driven cybersecurity, cloud and public sector wins but flags margin pressures from rising costs — a mix of upside from revenue drivers and near-term margin risk. Here’s Why You Should Retain Accenture Stock in Your Portfolio Now
• Negative Sentiment: A peer-comparison piece notes SAIC currently looks stronger on valuation, backlog and recent price performance — highlighting competitive and valuation pressures that could weigh on ACN’s stock multiple. ACN vs. SAIC: Which IT Services Stock Holds an Edge at Present?
• Negative Sentiment: Technically, ACN is trading below its 50- and 200-day moving averages and volume is lighter than average — factors that can amplify downward pressure when investors rotate out after prior gains.

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.