Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management Has $806,000 Stake in Accenture PLC $ACN

Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management lowered its position in shares of Accenture PLC (NYSE:ACN) by 57.6% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 4,065 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock after selling 5,512 shares during the period. Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management’s holdings in Accenture were worth $806,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in ACN. Board of the Pension Protection Fund acquired a new position in Accenture in the 4th quarter valued at $27,000. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Accenture during the fourth quarter worth $27,000. McMillan Office Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Accenture in the fourth quarter valued at about $27,000. University of Texas Texas AM Investment Management Co. bought a new stake in shares of Accenture in the fourth quarter valued at about $27,000. Finally, Triumph Capital Management acquired a new position in shares of Accenture in the third quarter valued at about $26,000. 75.14% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Accenture Trading Up 5.6%

ACN opened at $144.68 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $96.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.56, a P/E/G ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.13. The company has a quick ratio of 1.34, a current ratio of 1.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15. Accenture PLC has a twelve month low of $118.15 and a twelve month high of $291.09. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $157.11 and a 200 day simple moving average of $199.76.

Accenture (NYSE:ACN) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, June 18th. The information technology services provider reported $3.80 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.70 by $0.10. Accenture had a net margin of 10.66% and a return on equity of 26.47%. The company had revenue of $18.72 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $18.78 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $3.49 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter 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 predict that Accenture PLC will post 13.85 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Accenture declared that its board has approved a share repurchase program on Tuesday, June 23rd that allows the company to buyback $2.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the information technology services provider to buy up to 2.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are generally a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Accenture Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 14th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, July 9th will be given a dividend of $1.63 per share. This represents a $6.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.5%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, July 9th. Accenture’s payout ratio is currently 52.08%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Accenture news, CEO Atsushi Egawa sold 4,872 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 30th. The stock was 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 $2,267,746.28. This represents a 27.57% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. 0.02% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have weighed in on ACN. Royal Bank Of Canada dropped their price objective on shares of Accenture from $253.00 to $175.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, June 22nd. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their target price on shares of Accenture from $270.00 to $230.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, June 18th. Guggenheim lowered their target price on shares of Accenture from $225.00 to $185.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, June 22nd. UBS Group reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $275.00 price target on shares of Accenture in a research note on Wednesday, July 8th. Finally, Evercore set a $180.00 price target on Accenture in a research report on Thursday, June 18th. Twelve research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fourteen have given 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 “Hold” and an average target price of $193.19.

Accenture 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.