Aware Super Pty Ltd as trustee of Aware Super Takes Position in Accenture PLC $ACN

Aware Super Pty Ltd as trustee of Aware Super bought a new stake in Accenture PLC (NYSE:ACN) during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm bought 200,040 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $39,666,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the business. D.A. Davidson & CO. boosted its stake in Accenture by 16.1% during the 1st quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. now owns 305,168 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $60,512,000 after acquiring an additional 42,349 shares during the last quarter. Twin Capital Management Inc. raised its holdings in Accenture by 1.2% in the first quarter. Twin Capital Management Inc. now owns 10,505 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $2,083,000 after purchasing an additional 127 shares during the period. Marks Group Wealth Management Inc boosted its position in shares of Accenture by 8.4% during the first quarter. Marks Group Wealth Management Inc now owns 24,870 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $4,932,000 after purchasing an additional 1,918 shares in the last quarter. Blackhawk Capital Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Accenture in the 1st quarter valued at $1,067,000. Finally, Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund raised its stake in Accenture by 3.2% during the 1st quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund now owns 76,427 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $15,155,000 after buying an additional 2,373 shares during the period. 75.14% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ACN has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their target price on Accenture from $270.00 to $230.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, June 18th. William Blair lowered Accenture from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, June 18th. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their price objective on Accenture from $210.00 to $185.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, June 15th. Guggenheim lowered their target price on Accenture from $225.00 to $185.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, June 22nd. Finally, 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 report on Monday, June 22nd. Twelve investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fourteen have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target 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 dated Thursday, April 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $177.14, for a total value of $863,026.08. Following the transaction, 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 ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Company insiders own 0.02% of the company’s stock.

Accenture Trading Up 5.6%

Shares of Accenture stock opened at $144.68 on Friday. Accenture PLC has a 12-month low of $118.15 and a 12-month high of $291.09. The stock has a market cap of $96.62 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.56, a P/E/G ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.13. The business’s 50 day moving average is $157.11 and its 200-day moving average is $199.76. The company has a quick ratio of 1.34, a current ratio of 1.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15.

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

Accenture Announces Dividend

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

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