Insider Selling: Accenture (NYSE:ACN) CAO Sells 3,588 Shares of Stock

Accenture PLC (NYSE:ACN) CAO Melissa Burgum sold 3,588 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $281.01, for a total transaction of $1,008,263.88. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 8,179 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,298,380.79. This trade represents a 30.49% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link.

Accenture Trading Down 1.8%

Shares of NYSE:ACN traded down $5.01 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $275.70. 2,936,872 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,728,268. The firm has a market capitalization of $169.72 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.78, a PEG ratio of 2.70 and a beta of 1.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a quick ratio of 1.41 and a current ratio of 1.41. Accenture PLC has a twelve month low of $229.40 and a twelve month high of $398.35. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $268.58 and its 200-day moving average price is $258.04.

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

Accenture Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 13th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, January 13th will be issued a dividend of $1.63 per share. This represents a $6.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.4%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, January 13th. Accenture’s dividend payout ratio is presently 53.88%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Accenture

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Global Retirement Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Accenture in the 2nd quarter worth about $2,658,000. C WorldWide Group Holding A S boosted its stake in Accenture by 35.9% during the second quarter. C WorldWide Group Holding A S now owns 8,148 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $2,435,000 after acquiring an additional 2,151 shares in the last quarter. Truist Financial Corp grew its holdings in Accenture by 7.0% in the second quarter. Truist Financial Corp now owns 436,202 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $130,376,000 after purchasing an additional 28,685 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Accenture during the second quarter valued at approximately $2,216,850,000. Finally, D.A. Davidson & CO. lifted its holdings in shares of Accenture by 17.4% during the third quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. now owns 258,599 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $63,771,000 after purchasing an additional 38,325 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 75.14% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have commented on ACN shares. Argus reduced their price objective on Accenture from $370.00 to $335.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Accenture in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Berenberg Bank assumed coverage on shares of Accenture in a research report on Thursday, January 22nd. They set a “buy” rating and a $313.00 target price on the stock. BMO Capital Markets restated a “market perform” rating and set a $300.00 price target on shares of Accenture in a research report on Thursday, December 18th. Finally, HSBC raised their target price on Accenture from $215.00 to $235.00 in a research report on Friday, December 19th. Sixteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Accenture has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $298.38.

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.