Handelsbanken Fonder AB Has $54.77 Million Stock Position in Accenture PLC $ACN

Handelsbanken Fonder AB cut its stake in shares of Accenture PLC (NYSE:ACN) by 1.1% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 222,100 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock after selling 2,482 shares during the period. Handelsbanken Fonder AB’s holdings in Accenture were worth $54,770,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. SkyView Investment Advisors LLC raised its position in Accenture by 1.2% in the second quarter. SkyView Investment Advisors LLC now owns 3,751 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $1,108,000 after purchasing an additional 43 shares during the last quarter. Alpha Cubed Investments LLC raised its holdings in Accenture by 6.4% in the 2nd quarter. Alpha Cubed Investments LLC now owns 744 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $222,000 after buying an additional 45 shares during the last quarter. Councilmark Asset Management LLC boosted its position in Accenture by 0.5% during the 2nd quarter. Councilmark Asset Management LLC now owns 9,344 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $2,793,000 after buying an additional 45 shares during the period. Investors Research Corp grew its holdings in Accenture by 73.8% during the 3rd quarter. Investors Research Corp now owns 106 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 45 shares during the last quarter. Finally, WP Advisors LLC increased its position in Accenture by 1.0% in the 2nd quarter. WP Advisors LLC now owns 4,719 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $1,410,000 after acquiring an additional 46 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.14% of the company’s stock.

Accenture Price Performance

Shares of ACN opened at $207.35 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $127.65 billion, a PE ratio of 17.14, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.84 and a beta of 1.24. Accenture PLC has a 52-week low of $188.73 and a 52-week high of $361.62. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $255.79 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $252.06. 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 (NYSE:ACN) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, December 18th. The information technology services provider reported $3.94 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.73 by $0.21. The company had revenue of $18.74 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $18.51 billion. Accenture had a net margin of 10.76% and a return on equity of 26.65%. Accenture’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $3.59 EPS. Accenture has set its FY 2026 guidance at 13.520-13.900 EPS. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Accenture PLC will post 12.73 EPS for the current year.

Accenture Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 13th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, January 13th were paid a $1.63 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, January 13th. This represents a $6.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.1%. Accenture’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 53.88%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Accenture news, CEO Julie Spellman Sweet sold 6,057 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $241.23, for a total value of $1,461,130.11. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 15,255 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,679,963.65. This represents a 28.42% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, COO Catherine Kiernan Hogan sold 660 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $280.93, for a total value of $185,413.80. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer directly owned 12,688 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,564,439.84. This trade represents a 4.94% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold a total of 22,088 shares of company stock worth $5,970,434 over the last three months. Insiders own 0.02% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts recently weighed in on ACN shares. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price objective on shares of Accenture from $270.00 to $280.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 8th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price target on Accenture from $265.00 to $280.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, January 26th. Citigroup cut their price objective on Accenture from $266.00 to $215.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday. Royal Bank Of Canada set a $300.00 target price on Accenture in a report on Thursday, December 18th. Finally, Evercore restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $300.00 price target on shares of Accenture in a research report on Thursday, December 18th. Sixteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eleven have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $296.42.

Accenture News Summary

Here are the key news stories impacting Accenture this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Accenture announced a strategic collaboration with Mistral AI to scale advanced, enterprise-grade AI across Europe and globally — a deal that reinforces Accenture’s AI services pipeline and client demand for model deployment. WSJ: Mistral lands Accenture BusinessWire: Accenture and Mistral AI
• Positive Sentiment: Accenture agreed to acquire Verum Partners to expand infrastructure and capital-projects capabilities in Latin America (mining, metals, transport, energy) — a targeted buy that supports sector-specific consulting and systems integration revenue. Yahoo Finance: Verum acquisition
• Positive Sentiment: Accenture Ventures led a $9M Series A for Profitmind, signaling continued corporate venture activity to bolster Accenture’s retail AI offerings and potential client/technology synergies. BusinessWire: Profitmind funding
• Positive Sentiment: Analysis pieces note Accenture’s fundamentals (revenue growth, margins, guidance) diverging from softer market sentiment — suggesting potential upside if market re-rates the stock to fundamentals. Seeking Alpha: Fundamentals vs sentiment
• Neutral Sentiment: Charts and commentary emphasize Accenture’s relative stability within the S&P 500, which may make it a defensive tech/consulting play rather than a high-volatility growth bet. Kalkine: S&P 500 stability
• Neutral Sentiment: Commentary about Accenture’s role in frontier AI alliances and a cultural shift raises questions about valuation multiples — useful context for investors weighing long-term upside vs near-term multiple compression. Yahoo Finance: Frontier Alliance & valuation
• Negative Sentiment: Analysts at Citigroup cut Accenture’s price target from $266 to $215 and kept a neutral rating, signaling less near-term upside from a major sell-side desk and potentially pressuring sentiment. Benzinga / MarketScreener: Citigroup lowers PT
• Negative Sentiment: Short interest rose ~24.5% in February to ~15.2M shares (≈2.5% of float), a sign some traders are betting on near-term downside or continued multiple compression — this can amplify downward moves on negative news. (short interest data summary)

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.