Great Lakes Advisors LLC Sells 2,817 Shares of Accenture PLC $ACN

Great Lakes Advisors LLC decreased its holdings in Accenture PLC (NYSE:ACN) by 18.5% in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 12,371 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock after selling 2,817 shares during the period. Great Lakes Advisors LLC’s holdings in Accenture were worth $3,051,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in ACN. Sanders Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of Accenture in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $2,637,640,000. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Accenture during the second quarter valued at $2,216,850,000. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake 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 valued at $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 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 10,147,796 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $2,502,446,000 after acquiring an additional 1,148,970 shares during the last quarter. Finally, McElhenny Sheffield Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Accenture in the second quarter worth $308,000. 75.14% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on ACN. Guggenheim raised their price target on shares of Accenture from $285.00 to $305.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, December 15th. Rothschild & Co Redburn lifted their target price on shares of Accenture from $205.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, January 5th. Wall Street Zen downgraded Accenture from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, October 11th. UBS Group lowered Accenture from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, January 22nd. Finally, Evercore ISI reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $300.00 target price on shares of Accenture in a report on Thursday, December 18th. Sixteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Accenture presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $298.38.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Julie Spellman Sweet sold 1,694 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $288.30, for a total transaction of $488,380.20. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 37,346 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,766,851.80. This represents a 4.34% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, General Counsel Joel Unruch sold 1,026 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, January 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $281.70, for a total transaction of $289,024.20. Following the transaction, the general counsel owned 27,181 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,656,887.70. This trade represents a 3.64% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold a total of 21,934 shares of company stock worth $5,965,166 in the last 90 days. 0.02% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Accenture Trading Up 0.9%

Accenture stock opened at $263.58 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $270.51 and a 200 day moving average of $257.87. The company has a current ratio of 1.41, a quick ratio of 1.41 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. The firm has a market capitalization of $162.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.78, a P/E/G ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 1.25. Accenture PLC has a 12-month low of $229.40 and a 12-month high of $398.35.

Accenture (NYSE:ACN) last released its earnings results on Thursday, December 18th. The information technology services provider reported $3.94 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.73 by $0.21. Accenture had a net margin of 10.76% and a return on equity of 26.65%. The company had revenue of $18.74 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $18.51 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $3.59 EPS. Accenture’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.7% on a year-over-year basis. Accenture has set its FY 2026 guidance at 13.520-13.900 EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that Accenture PLC will post 12.73 earnings per share for the current year.

Accenture Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 13th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, January 13th will be given 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 2.5%. Accenture’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 53.88%.

Accenture Company 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.