Boston Common Asset Management LLC Cuts Holdings in Accenture PLC $ACN

Boston Common Asset Management LLC trimmed its position in Accenture PLC (NYSE:ACN) by 75.0% in the first quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 3,604 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock after selling 10,840 shares during the quarter. Boston Common Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Accenture were worth $715,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of ACN. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Accenture in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $2,146,995,000. Voloridge Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in Accenture during the third quarter worth $311,694,000. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its holdings in Accenture by 15.9% during the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 8,173,338 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $2,192,907,000 after acquiring an additional 1,122,855 shares during the period. Pzena Investment Management LLC boosted its position in Accenture by 84.0% in the first quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC now owns 2,405,683 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $477,023,000 after purchasing an additional 1,097,961 shares during the last quarter. Finally, FIL Ltd grew its stake in Accenture by 33.5% in the 4th quarter. FIL Ltd now owns 3,921,049 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $1,052,017,000 after purchasing an additional 983,840 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 75.14% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

ACN has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. BNP Paribas Exane lowered their target price on Accenture from $180.00 to $130.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, June 26th. UBS Group restated a “buy” rating and set a $275.00 price target on shares of Accenture in a research report on Wednesday, July 8th. Berenberg Bank decreased their price objective on shares of Accenture from $273.00 to $220.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, June 17th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on shares of Accenture from $247.00 to $201.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, June 8th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada dropped their target price on shares of Accenture from $253.00 to $175.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, June 22nd. Twelve analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fourteen have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $193.19.

Insider Activity at Accenture

In related news, CEO Atsushi Egawa sold 4,872 shares of the company’s 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 sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 12,802 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,267,746.28. This represents a 27.57% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders own 0.02% of the company’s stock.

Accenture Stock Down 0.0%

Shares of NYSE ACN opened at $143.56 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a current ratio of 1.34 and a quick ratio of 1.34. The stock has a market capitalization of $95.87 billion, a PE ratio of 11.47, a P/E/G ratio of 1.49 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 business’s fifty day moving average price is $156.38 and its 200-day moving average price is $198.86.

Accenture (NYSE:ACN) last announced 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. Accenture had a return on equity of 26.47% and a net margin of 10.66%.The company had revenue of $18.72 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $18.78 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $3.49 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.6% on a year-over-year basis. Accenture has set its FY 2026 guidance at 13.780-13.900 EPS. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Accenture PLC will post 13.85 EPS for the current year.

Accenture Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 14th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, July 9th will be given a $1.63 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, July 9th. This represents a $6.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.5%. Accenture’s payout ratio is 52.08%.

Accenture announced that its board has initiated a stock repurchase program on Tuesday, June 23rd that authorizes the company to buyback $2.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the information technology services provider to reacquire up to 2.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are typically an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

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.