Suncoast Equity Management Reduces Position in Accenture PLC $ACN

Suncoast Equity Management reduced its stake in Accenture PLC (NYSE:ACN) by 92.8% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 9,194 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock after selling 118,485 shares during the quarter. Suncoast Equity Management’s holdings in Accenture were worth $2,267,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of ACN. Sanders Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of Accenture during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $2,637,640,000. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Accenture in the second quarter worth approximately $2,216,850,000. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Accenture by 2.1% during the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 65,129,782 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $19,466,641,000 after purchasing an additional 1,315,548 shares during the period. McElhenny Sheffield Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Accenture during the 2nd quarter valued at $308,000. Finally, Flossbach Von Storch SE increased its stake in Accenture by 48.0% in the 2nd quarter. Flossbach Von Storch SE now owns 2,408,800 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $719,966,000 after buying an additional 781,211 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.14% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts recently issued reports on the company. Citigroup upgraded Accenture to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 23rd. Argus reduced their price objective on shares of Accenture from $370.00 to $335.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday. BMO Capital Markets restated a “market perform” rating and set a $300.00 target price on shares of Accenture in a research report on Thursday, December 18th. Susquehanna lifted their price target on shares of Accenture from $270.00 to $277.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, December 19th. Finally, HSBC raised their price objective on Accenture from $215.00 to $235.00 in a research report on Friday, December 19th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have assigned a Buy rating, eleven have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $296.83.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Accenture news, CEO Julie Spellman Sweet sold 5,917 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $246.62, for a total value of $1,459,250.54. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 8,599 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,120,685.38. This represents a 40.76% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Manish Sharma sold 6,902 shares of Accenture stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $250.01, for a total value of $1,725,569.02. Following the sale, the insider owned 1,860 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $465,018.60. This trade represents a 78.77% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold a total of 33,319 shares of company stock valued at $8,335,225 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.02% of the company’s stock.

Accenture Trading Down 0.6%

ACN opened at $268.44 on Friday. Accenture PLC has a 12 month low of $229.40 and a 12 month high of $398.35. The company has a current ratio of 1.41, a quick ratio of 1.41 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $257.59 and a 200 day moving average of $261.15. The firm has a market cap of $165.25 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.19, a P/E/G ratio of 2.59 and a beta of 1.25.

Accenture (NYSE:ACN) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, December 18th. The information technology services provider reported $3.94 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.73 by $0.21. The firm had revenue of $18.74 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $18.51 billion. Accenture had a return on equity of 26.65% and a net margin of 10.76%.The company’s quarterly revenue was up 5.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $3.59 EPS. Accenture has set its FY 2026 guidance at 13.520-13.900 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that Accenture PLC will post 12.73 EPS for the current year.

Accenture Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 13th. Investors of record on Tuesday, January 13th will be given a $1.63 dividend. This represents a $6.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, January 13th. Accenture’s dividend payout ratio is 53.88%.

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.