Accenture PLC $ACN Stock Holdings Lifted by Artisan Partners Limited Partnership

Artisan Partners Limited Partnership raised its position in Accenture PLC (NYSE:ACN) by 4.8% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 542,448 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 24,951 shares during the quarter. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership’s holdings in Accenture were worth $145,539,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Board of the Pension Protection Fund purchased a new position in Accenture in the fourth quarter valued at about $27,000. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Accenture in the fourth quarter valued at about $27,000. McMillan Office Inc. purchased a new position in Accenture in the fourth quarter valued at about $27,000. University of Texas Texas AM Investment Management Co. purchased a new position in Accenture in the fourth quarter valued at about $27,000. Finally, Triumph Capital Management purchased a new position in Accenture in the third quarter valued at about $26,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.14% of the company’s stock.

Trending Headlines about Accenture

Here are the key news stories impacting Accenture this week:

• Negative Sentiment: Susquehanna cut its price target on Accenture to $186 from $222 and kept a neutral rating, adding to the cautious tone around the stock ahead of earnings. Susquehanna adjusts price target on Accenture
• Negative Sentiment: Jefferies also lowered its target on Accenture to $185 from $210 and maintained a hold rating, reinforcing concerns that near-term upside may be limited. Jefferies adjusts price target on Accenture
• Neutral Sentiment: Investors are waiting for Accenture’s fiscal third-quarter results on June 18, with expectations for revenue and EPS growth that could determine whether the recent weakness continues or reverses. Accenture set to report Q3 earnings
• Neutral Sentiment: Accenture is also in the spotlight after Unilever said it is scaling AI-enabled digital twins across its manufacturing network with Accenture, highlighting ongoing enterprise AI work, though the announcement is not a major immediate catalyst. Unilever scales digital twins across global manufacturing network with Accenture
• Neutral Sentiment: Accenture received an award recognizing its AI innovation across its workforce, which supports the company’s AI narrative but is unlikely to move the stock on its own. Accenture award underscores AI role

Accenture Price Performance

NYSE ACN opened at $165.84 on Wednesday. Accenture PLC has a twelve month low of $155.82 and a twelve month high of $315.95. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a quick ratio of 1.34 and a current ratio of 1.34. The stock has a market capitalization of $110.36 billion, a PE ratio of 13.58, a P/E/G ratio of 1.57 and a beta of 1.08. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $180.37 and a 200 day simple moving average of $220.51.

Accenture (NYSE:ACN) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, March 20th. The information technology services provider reported $2.93 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.84 by $0.09. Accenture had a return on equity of 26.33% and a net margin of 10.61%.The business had revenue of $18.04 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $17.80 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $2.82 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 7.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts anticipate that Accenture PLC will post 13.83 EPS for the current year.

Accenture Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 9th were issued a $1.63 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, April 9th. This represents a $6.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.9%. Accenture’s dividend payout ratio is 53.40%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have commented on ACN. TD Cowen lowered their target price on Accenture from $282.00 to $258.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, June 8th. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price target on Accenture from $315.00 to $270.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, June 3rd. Royal Bank Of Canada decreased their price target on Accenture from $295.00 to $253.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, March 20th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased their price target on Accenture from $210.00 to $199.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, June 2nd. Finally, Piper Sandler set a $282.00 price target on Accenture in a research note on Thursday, March 5th. Sixteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eleven have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Accenture currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $245.85.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Accenture news, CEO Atsushi Egawa sold 4,872 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $177.14, for a total value of $863,026.08. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 12,802 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,267,746.28. This represents a 27.57% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. 0.02% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Accenture Profile

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.