Accenture PLC $ACN Shares Sold by King Luther Capital Management Corp

King Luther Capital Management Corp cut its stake in Accenture PLC (NYSE:ACN) by 7.6% in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 61,714 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock after selling 5,089 shares during the quarter. King Luther Capital Management Corp’s holdings in Accenture were worth $11,316,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Bank of America Corp DE lifted its holdings in Accenture by 2.2% during the 1st quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 6,531,231 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $1,295,078,000 after purchasing an additional 143,483 shares in the last quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in Accenture by 17.7% in the 3rd quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC now owns 6,054,682 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $1,110,247,000 after purchasing an additional 912,506 shares during the period. First Trust Advisors LP grew its holdings in Accenture by 120.0% during the 1st quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 3,482,150 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $690,475,000 after buying an additional 1,899,305 shares in the last quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company grew its holdings in Accenture by 24.3% during the 1st quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 2,384,954 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $472,913,000 after buying an additional 466,452 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Artemis Investment Management LLP increased its position in shares of Accenture by 67.6% during the third quarter. Artemis Investment Management LLP now owns 2,196,789 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $402,825,000 after buying an additional 885,687 shares during the period. 75.14% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Accenture Trading Down 1.4%

Shares of ACN opened at $250.20 on Friday. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $215.58 and its 200 day simple moving average is $191.35. The company has a market capitalization of $147.88 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.45, a P/E/G ratio of 1.95 and a beta of 1.01. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a current ratio of 1.43 and a quick ratio of 1.43. Accenture PLC has a 1-year low of $118.15 and a 1-year high of $291.09.

Accenture (NYSE:ACN) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, October 1st. The information technology services provider reported $3.29 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.18 by $0.11. Accenture had a net margin of 11.28% and a return on equity of 26.53%. The business had revenue of $18.68 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $18.03 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $3.03 earnings per share. Accenture’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.2% on a year-over-year basis. Accenture has set its FY 2027 guidance at 14.390-14.810 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that Accenture PLC will post 14.68 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Accenture Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 13th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, October 13th will be issued a dividend of $1.71 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, October 13th. This represents a $6.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.7%. This is an increase from Accenture’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.63. Accenture’s payout ratio is presently 50.44%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on ACN shares. Robert W. Baird downgraded shares of Accenture from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $245.00 to $252.00 in a report on Wednesday, October 21st. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of Accenture from $210.00 to $252.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, October 26th. Jefferies Financial Group set a $220.00 target price on shares of Accenture in a report on Friday, October 2nd. Evercore set a $250.00 target price on shares of Accenture and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 1st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of Accenture from $179.00 to $200.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, September 25th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seventeen have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $221.07.

Insider Activity at Accenture

In other Accenture news, CEO Atsushi Egawa sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $270.00, for a total transaction of $2,700,000.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 5,996 shares in the company, valued at $1,618,920. This trade represents a 62.52% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO Ryoji Sekido sold 5,844 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, October 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $244.84, for a total value of $1,430,844.96. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 1,194 shares in the company, valued at $292,338.96. The trade was a 83.03% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold a total of 18,675 shares of company stock worth $4,747,563 in the last three months. 0.02% of the stock is owned by insiders.

About Accenture

Accenture plc is a global professional services company that helps businesses, governments and other organizations solve operational and technology challenges. Its work includes strategy and management consulting, digital transformation, systems integration and the design, implementation and management of technology solutions. The company serves clients across a broad range of industries and geographies. Its services span cloud computing, data and artificial intelligence, cybersecurity, software and platforms, business process operations, and digital marketing and customer experience.