Equitable Trust Co. Sells 3,899 Shares of Accenture PLC $ACN

Equitable Trust Co. lessened its position in Accenture PLC (NYSE:ACN) by 57.8% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,846 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock after selling 3,899 shares during the quarter. Equitable Trust Co.’s holdings in Accenture were worth $564,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of ACN. Jaffetilchin Investment Partners LLC grew its holdings in Accenture by 4.2% in the fourth quarter. Jaffetilchin Investment Partners LLC now owns 878 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $236,000 after purchasing an additional 35 shares during the period. Clayton Financial Group LLC raised its stake in Accenture by 13.1% during the fourth quarter. Clayton Financial Group LLC now owns 329 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $88,000 after buying an additional 38 shares during the last quarter. Holt Capital Advisors L.L.C. dba Holt Capital Partners L.P. boosted its holdings in Accenture by 0.9% in the third quarter. Holt Capital Advisors L.L.C. dba Holt Capital Partners L.P. now owns 4,416 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $1,089,000 after acquiring an additional 41 shares in the last quarter. Peak Asset Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Accenture by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. Peak Asset Management LLC now owns 5,447 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $1,461,000 after acquiring an additional 43 shares during the last quarter. Finally, SkyView Investment Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Accenture by 1.2% during the second quarter. SkyView Investment Advisors LLC now owns 3,751 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $1,108,000 after acquiring an additional 43 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 75.14% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Accenture news, CEO Atsushi Egawa sold 4,872 shares of Accenture stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $177.14, for a total transaction of $863,026.08. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 12,802 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,267,746.28. The trade was a 27.57% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders own 0.02% of the company’s stock.

Accenture Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE ACN traded down $3.87 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $135.19. 7,631,871 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 12,515,054. The firm has a market capitalization of $90.28 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.80, a PEG ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.13. Accenture PLC has a one year low of $118.15 and a one year high of $291.09. 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 has a 50-day moving average of $160.28 and a two-hundred day moving average of $203.94.

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

Accenture announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a share buyback program on Tuesday, June 23rd that allows the company to repurchase $2.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the information technology services provider to buy up to 2.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are often a sign that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Accenture Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 14th. Investors of record on Thursday, July 9th will be issued a $1.63 dividend. This represents a $6.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, July 9th. Accenture’s dividend payout ratio is currently 52.08%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on ACN. TD Cowen cut shares of Accenture from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and dropped their price target for the stock from $258.00 to $150.00 in a research note on Monday, June 22nd. Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on shares of Accenture from $177.00 to $130.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, June 22nd. Royal Bank Of Canada decreased their price objective on shares of Accenture from $253.00 to $175.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, June 22nd. Truist Financial cut their target price on Accenture from $210.00 to $150.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, June 22nd. Finally, Evercore set a $180.00 target price on Accenture in a report on Thursday, June 18th. Twelve equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fourteen have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $193.19.

Accenture Company 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.