Accenture PLC $ACN Stock Holdings Lifted by Highland Capital Management LLC

Highland Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Accenture PLC (NYSE:ACN) by 393.5% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 19,088 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 15,220 shares during the quarter. Highland Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Accenture were worth $4,707,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Accenture by 2.1% in the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 65,129,782 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $19,466,641,000 after purchasing an additional 1,315,548 shares during the period. State Street Corp lifted its stake in Accenture by 1.2% during the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 28,016,605 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $8,373,925,000 after buying an additional 326,979 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Accenture by 1.1% in the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 14,042,843 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $4,182,331,000 after buying an additional 147,931 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its position in shares of Accenture by 0.6% in the second quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 8,998,826 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $2,689,659,000 after acquiring an additional 56,108 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sanders Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Accenture during the second quarter valued at approximately $2,637,640,000. 75.14% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Ryoji Sekido sold 2,500 shares of Accenture stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $249.47, for a total value of $623,675.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 1,390 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $346,763.30. The trade was a 64.27% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Manish Sharma sold 6,902 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $250.01, for a total value of $1,725,569.02. Following the transaction, the insider owned 1,860 shares in the company, valued at approximately $465,018.60. This trade represents a 78.77% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 33,319 shares of company stock worth $8,335,225. 0.02% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Accenture Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE ACN opened at $270.08 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 1.41 and a quick ratio of 1.41. Accenture PLC has a one year low of $229.40 and a one year high of $398.35. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $255.21 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $262.79. The company has a market capitalization of $166.26 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.32, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.60 and a beta of 1.26.

Accenture (NYSE:ACN) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, December 18th. The information technology services provider reported $3.94 earnings per share (EPS) 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 business 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 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 5.7% on a year-over-year basis. Accenture has set its FY 2026 guidance at 13.520-13.900 EPS. Analysts anticipate that Accenture PLC will post 12.73 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Accenture Dividend Announcement

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 paid a dividend of $1.63 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, January 13th. This represents a $6.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.4%. Accenture’s dividend payout ratio is 53.88%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have weighed in on ACN. BNP Paribas Exane lowered their price objective on shares of Accenture from $300.00 to $255.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, September 24th. HSBC lifted their price target on Accenture from $215.00 to $235.00 in a report on Friday, December 19th. Robert W. Baird reduced their price objective on Accenture from $350.00 to $330.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, September 26th. UBS Group set a $320.00 price objective on Accenture in a research report on Friday, December 19th. Finally, Dbs Bank upgraded Accenture from a “hold” rating to a “moderate buy” rating in a report on Monday, October 27th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have given a Buy rating, eleven have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Accenture has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $298.29.

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.