Aristotle Capital Management LLC Lowers Stake in Accenture PLC $ACN

Aristotle Capital Management LLC cut its holdings in Accenture PLC (NYSE:ACN) by 2.8% during the first quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 475,096 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock after selling 13,810 shares during the period. Aristotle Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Accenture were worth $94,214,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in ACN. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in Accenture by 1.3% in the 4th 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 acquiring an additional 854,361 shares during the period. State Street Corp lifted its position in Accenture by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 28,264,675 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $7,583,462,000 after acquiring an additional 129,610 shares during the period. Capital International Investors grew its stake in shares of Accenture by 2.0% in the 4th quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 17,471,554 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $4,687,867,000 after purchasing an additional 343,420 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Accenture by 1.5% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 14,656,436 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $3,922,212,000 after purchasing an additional 218,719 shares during the period. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its stake in shares of Accenture by 5.4% during the fourth quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 10,693,994 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $2,869,199,000 after purchasing an additional 546,198 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.14% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on ACN shares. Robert W. Baird set a $190.00 price target on Accenture in a report on Thursday, June 18th. Truist Financial cut their price objective on shares of Accenture from $210.00 to $150.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, June 22nd. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their target price on shares of Accenture from $315.00 to $270.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, June 3rd. Royal Bank Of Canada dropped their price target 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. Finally, BMO Capital Markets restated a “market perform” rating and issued a $150.00 price objective on shares of Accenture in a research report on Friday, June 19th. Twelve investment 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $192.96.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Atsushi Egawa sold 4,872 shares of Accenture 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 sale, the chief executive officer owned 12,802 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,267,746.28. This trade represents a 27.57% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through 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 Up 6.0%

Shares of NYSE ACN opened at $147.04 on Friday. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $153.92 and its two-hundred day moving average is $194.99. The company has a market capitalization of $98.20 billion, a PE ratio of 11.74, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.44 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 has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a current ratio of 1.34 and a quick ratio of 1.34.

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

Accenture Dividend Announcement

The business 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 4.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, July 9th. Accenture’s payout ratio is 52.08%.

Accenture announced that its Board of Directors has approved 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 purchase 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.

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.