Accenture PLC $ACN Shares Sold by Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc.

Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. lessened its holdings in Accenture PLC (NYSE:ACNFree Report) by 7.6% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 1,380,039 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock after selling 112,907 shares during the quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc.’s holdings in Accenture were worth $273,648,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of ACN. Teacher Retirement System of Texas raised its holdings in Accenture by 27.7% during the fourth 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 in the last quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of 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 buying an additional 93,880 shares during the last quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank raised its stake in Accenture by 36.6% during the 4th quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 557,516 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $149,582,000 after acquiring an additional 149,357 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in Accenture by 1.3% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 66,070,930 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $17,726,831,000 after acquiring an additional 854,361 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Swiss Life Asset Management Ltd boosted its stake in Accenture by 12.0% in the fourth quarter. Swiss Life Asset Management Ltd now owns 335,314 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $89,965,000 after acquiring an additional 36,037 shares in the last quarter. 75.14% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Trending Headlines about Accenture

Here are the key news stories impacting Accenture this week:

Accenture Price Performance

Shares of NYSE ACN opened at $137.29 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a quick ratio of 1.34 and a current ratio of 1.34. Accenture PLC has a one year low of $118.15 and a one year high of $304.19. The firm has a market capitalization of $91.68 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.97, a PEG ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 1.13. The company’s fifty day moving average is $161.95 and its two-hundred day moving average is $205.36.

Accenture (NYSE:ACNGet Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, June 18th. The information technology services provider reported $3.80 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.70 by $0.10. Accenture had a net margin of 10.66% and a return on equity of 26.47%. The business had revenue of $18.72 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $18.78 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $3.49 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 5.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Accenture has set its FY 2026 guidance at 13.780-13.900 EPS. Analysts forecast that Accenture PLC will post 13.85 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Accenture Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 14th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, July 9th will be issued a $1.63 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, July 9th. This represents a $6.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.7%. Accenture’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 52.08%.

Accenture announced that its board has approved a share buyback program on Tuesday, June 23rd that permits the company to buyback $2.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the information technology services provider to purchase up to 2.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are usually an indication that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently commented on ACN. Mizuho cut their target price on Accenture from $280.00 to $226.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, June 23rd. Argus decreased their target price on shares of Accenture from $335.00 to $220.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, June 22nd. William Blair lowered shares of Accenture from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, June 18th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut their price target on shares of Accenture from $199.00 to $140.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Monday, June 22nd. Finally, Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on Accenture from $177.00 to $130.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, June 22nd. Twelve equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and fifteen have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $193.33.

View Our Latest Stock Report on ACN

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Atsushi Egawa sold 4,872 shares of Accenture stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $177.14, for a total transaction of $863,026.08. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 12,802 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,267,746.28. This trade represents a 27.57% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders own 0.02% of the company’s stock.

Accenture Profile

(Free Report)

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.

Further Reading

Want to see what other hedge funds are holding ACN? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Accenture PLC (NYSE:ACNFree Report).

Institutional Ownership by Quarter for Accenture (NYSE:ACN)

Receive News & Ratings for Accenture Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Accenture and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter.