Sterling Capital Management LLC Has $502,000 Holdings in Accenture PLC $ACN

Sterling Capital Management LLC decreased its holdings in shares of Accenture PLC (NYSE:ACN) by 98.3% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 2,532 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock after selling 142,277 shares during the quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Accenture were worth $502,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Brighton Jones LLC increased its holdings in Accenture by 36.2% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 18,438 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $6,486,000 after purchasing an additional 4,905 shares during the last quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC boosted its holdings in Accenture by 46.9% during the second quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC now owns 2,066 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $618,000 after buying an additional 660 shares during the last quarter. United Bank grew its position in shares of Accenture by 49.8% during the 2nd quarter. United Bank now owns 3,639 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $1,088,000 after buying an additional 1,209 shares during the period. Bank of Nova Scotia increased its stake in shares of Accenture by 23.0% in the 2nd quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia now owns 828 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $247,000 after acquiring an additional 155 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Main Street Financial Solutions LLC raised its position in shares of Accenture by 4.2% in the 2nd quarter. Main Street Financial Solutions LLC now owns 1,767 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $528,000 after acquiring an additional 72 shares during the period. 75.14% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at Accenture

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

Accenture Stock Performance

Shares of ACN opened at $137.40 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $91.76 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.97, a PEG ratio of 1.30 and a beta of 1.14. Accenture PLC has a twelve month low of $118.15 and a twelve month high of $307.77. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a quick ratio of 1.34 and a current ratio of 1.34. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $165.36 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $209.14.

Accenture (NYSE:ACN) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, June 18th. The information technology services provider reported $3.80 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.70 by $0.10. The company had revenue of $18.72 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $18.78 billion. Accenture had a net margin of 10.66% and a return on equity of 26.47%. The firm’s revenue was up 5.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $3.49 earnings per share. Accenture has set its FY 2026 guidance at 13.780-13.900 EPS. On average, analysts forecast that Accenture PLC will post 13.85 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Accenture declared that its board has authorized a share repurchase program on Tuesday, June 23rd that permits the company to buyback $2.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the information technology services provider to buy up to 2.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are generally an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Accenture Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 14th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, July 9th will be issued a $1.63 dividend. This represents a $6.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.7%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, July 9th. Accenture’s payout ratio is 52.08%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on ACN shares. Guggenheim decreased their price objective on shares of Accenture from $225.00 to $185.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday, June 22nd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut their target price on shares of Accenture from $199.00 to $140.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, June 22nd. Evercore set a $180.00 price target on shares of Accenture in a report on Thursday, June 18th. Citigroup lowered their price objective on shares of Accenture from $215.00 to $195.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, June 1st. Finally, Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on Accenture from $177.00 to $130.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, June 22nd. Twelve research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and fifteen have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $195.00.

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.