Absher Wealth Management LLC Increases Stock Position in Accenture PLC $ACN

Absher Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in Accenture PLC (NYSE:ACN) by 65.7% during the first quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 9,359 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 3,712 shares during the quarter. Absher Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Accenture were worth $1,856,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the business. Teacher Retirement System of Texas increased its stake in Accenture by 27.7% during the fourth quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas now owns 282,340 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $75,752,000 after acquiring an additional 61,314 shares during the period. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Accenture by 197.2% during the 4th quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 141,484 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $37,960,000 after purchasing an additional 93,880 shares in the last quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank increased its position in shares of Accenture by 36.6% during the fourth quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 557,516 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $149,582,000 after purchasing an additional 149,357 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Accenture by 1.3% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 66,070,930 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $17,726,831,000 after purchasing an additional 854,361 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Swiss Life Asset Management Ltd lifted its position in Accenture by 12.0% in the fourth quarter. Swiss Life Asset Management Ltd now owns 335,314 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $89,965,000 after purchasing an additional 36,037 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.14% of the company’s stock.

Accenture Price Performance

NYSE:ACN opened at $135.19 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.34, a current ratio of 1.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15. The firm has a market cap of $90.28 billion, a PE ratio of 10.80, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.13. Accenture PLC has a 12 month low of $118.15 and a 12 month high of $291.09. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $160.28 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $203.47.

Accenture (NYSE:ACN) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, June 18th. The information technology services provider reported $3.80 earnings per share 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 analyst estimates of $18.78 billion. Accenture had a net margin of 10.66% and a return on equity of 26.47%. The company’s revenue was up 5.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $3.49 earnings per share. Accenture has set its FY 2026 guidance at 13.780-13.900 EPS. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Accenture PLC will post 13.85 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Accenture Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 14th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, July 9th will be given a $1.63 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, July 9th. This represents a $6.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.8%. Accenture’s payout ratio is presently 52.08%.

Accenture announced that its board has authorized a stock repurchase plan on Tuesday, June 23rd that authorizes the company to repurchase $2.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the information technology services provider to reacquire up to 2.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are generally a sign that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have issued reports on ACN. TD Cowen lowered shares of Accenture from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and lowered their price target for the company from $258.00 to $150.00 in a report on Monday, June 22nd. Truist Financial decreased their target price on shares of Accenture from $210.00 to $150.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, June 22nd. Robert W. Baird set a $190.00 target price on shares of Accenture in a research note on Thursday, June 18th. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of Accenture from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a research report on Thursday. Finally, HSBC decreased their price objective on Accenture from $220.00 to $210.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 14th. Twelve equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fourteen have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Accenture presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $193.19.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Atsushi Egawa sold 4,872 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $177.14, for a total transaction of $863,026.08. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 12,802 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,267,746.28. This represents 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 accessible through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Corporate insiders own 0.02% of the company’s stock.

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.