Sterling Capital Management LLC Sells 142,277 Shares of Accenture PLC $ACN

Sterling Capital Management LLC reduced its holdings in Accenture PLC (NYSE:ACN) by 98.3% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,532 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock after selling 142,277 shares during the period. Sterling Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Accenture were worth $502,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Teacher Retirement System of Texas increased its stake in shares of Accenture by 27.7% during the 4th quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas now owns 282,340 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $75,752,000 after purchasing an additional 61,314 shares during the last quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Accenture by 197.2% in the 4th quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 141,484 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $37,960,000 after purchasing an additional 93,880 shares during the last quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank grew its holdings in Accenture by 36.6% during the fourth quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 557,516 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $149,582,000 after purchasing an additional 149,357 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in Accenture by 1.3% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 66,070,930 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $17,726,831,000 after purchasing an additional 854,361 shares during the period. Finally, Swiss Life Asset Management Ltd increased its position in Accenture by 12.0% during the fourth quarter. Swiss Life Asset Management Ltd now owns 335,314 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $89,965,000 after buying an additional 36,037 shares during the last quarter. 75.14% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Accenture Price Performance

Shares of NYSE ACN opened at $137.40 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $91.76 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.97, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.30 and a beta of 1.14. The business’s 50 day moving average is $165.36 and its 200-day moving average is $209.14. The company has a current ratio of 1.34, a quick ratio of 1.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15. Accenture PLC has a 1-year low of $118.15 and a 1-year high of $307.77.

Accenture (NYSE:ACN) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, June 18th. The information technology services provider reported $3.80 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.70 by $0.10. The business had revenue of $18.72 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $18.78 billion. Accenture had a return on equity of 26.47% and a net margin of 10.66%.The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 5.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $3.49 EPS. 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 year.

Accenture declared that its Board of Directors has approved a stock buyback program on Tuesday, June 23rd that allows the company to buyback $2.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the information technology services provider to purchase up to 2.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are typically a sign that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Accenture Announces Dividend

The firm 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 dividend yield of 4.7%. Accenture’s dividend payout ratio is 52.08%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Accenture news, CEO Atsushi Egawa sold 4,872 shares of Accenture 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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 12,802 shares in the company, valued at $2,267,746.28. The trade was a 27.57% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Corporate insiders own 0.02% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the company. William Blair cut Accenture from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, June 18th. Susquehanna dropped their price target on Accenture from $186.00 to $140.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, June 22nd. Jefferies Financial Group cut their price target on Accenture from $210.00 to $185.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Monday, June 15th. DA Davidson reduced their price objective on shares of Accenture from $275.00 to $175.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, June 23rd. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Accenture in a research report on Tuesday, June 9th. Twelve equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and fifteen have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $195.00.

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.