TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. Cuts Stock Holdings in Accenture PLC $ACN

TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. lessened its stake in Accenture PLC (NYSE:ACN) by 18.5% during the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 32,057 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock after selling 7,284 shares during the period. TD Waterhouse Canada Inc.’s holdings in Accenture were worth $7,815,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in ACN. Sanders Capital LLC purchased a new stake in Accenture during the second quarter valued at about $2,637,640,000. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Accenture during the 2nd quarter worth about $2,216,850,000. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in 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 worth $19,466,641,000 after purchasing an additional 1,315,548 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its holdings in Accenture by 12.8% in the third quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 10,147,796 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $2,502,446,000 after buying an additional 1,148,970 shares during the period. Finally, McElhenny Sheffield Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in Accenture during the second quarter valued at approximately $308,000. 75.14% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently commented on ACN. UBS Group downgraded shares of Accenture from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 22nd. Berenberg Bank assumed coverage on Accenture in a research report on Thursday, January 22nd. They issued a “buy” rating and a $313.00 price objective on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group upped their target price on Accenture from $270.00 to $280.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 8th. Wolfe Research raised their target price on Accenture from $300.00 to $330.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, December 11th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets restated a “market perform” rating and issued a $300.00 price target on shares of Accenture in a report on Thursday, December 18th. Sixteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, twelve have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $298.38.

Accenture Stock Down 3.5%

Shares of NYSE:ACN opened at $261.01 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $160.68 billion, a PE ratio of 21.57, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.60 and a beta of 1.25. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $270.28 and a 200 day simple moving average of $258.11. The company has a current ratio of 1.41, a quick ratio of 1.41 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. Accenture PLC has a 12-month low of $229.40 and a 12-month high of $398.35.

Accenture (NYSE:ACN) last announced 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. Accenture had a return on equity of 26.65% and a net margin of 10.76%.The firm had revenue of $18.74 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $18.51 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $3.59 earnings per share. Accenture’s quarterly revenue was up 5.7% on a year-over-year basis. Accenture has set its FY 2026 guidance at 13.520-13.900 EPS. On average, equities research analysts anticipate 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. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, January 13th will be issued a $1.63 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, January 13th. This represents a $6.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.5%. Accenture’s payout ratio is 53.88%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Accenture

In related news, CAO Melissa A. Burgum sold 3,588 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the chief accounting officer owned 8,179 shares in the company, valued at $2,298,380.79. This represents a 30.49% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Julie Spellman Sweet sold 1,694 shares of Accenture stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $288.30, for a total value of $488,380.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 37,346 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,766,851.80. The trade was a 4.34% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 21,934 shares of company stock worth $5,965,166. 0.02% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.