Janus Henderson Group PLC Reduces Holdings in Accenture PLC $ACN

Janus Henderson Group PLC reduced its stake in shares of Accenture PLC (NYSE:ACN) by 69.7% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 165,001 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock after selling 380,162 shares during the period. Janus Henderson Group PLC’s holdings in Accenture were worth $32,692,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of ACN. Teacher Retirement System of Texas boosted its position 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 acquiring an additional 61,314 shares during the last quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC raised its holdings in 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 acquiring an additional 93,880 shares during the last quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank lifted its stake in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 149,357 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Accenture by 1.3% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 66,070,930 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $17,726,831,000 after purchasing an additional 854,361 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Swiss Life Asset Management Ltd grew its position in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 36,037 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.14% of the company’s stock.

More Accenture News

Here are the key news stories impacting Accenture this week:

• Positive Sentiment: UniCredit digital-transformation deal: Accenture and IBM are collaborating with UniCredit to build a next-generation European banking platform. The project reinforces Accenture’s position in large, strategic technology-transformation contracts and could support future bookings and revenue. UniCredit, Accenture and IBM Collaborate to Build Europe’s Next-Generation Banking Platform
• Positive Sentiment: AI strategy remains a potential catalyst: Coverage highlighted Accenture’s investments in artificial intelligence and its Edge business as opportunities to capture demand for AI implementation and enterprise modernization. Successful execution could improve growth prospects and sentiment toward the stock. Why Is Accenture Strengthening Its AI Strategy?
• Positive Sentiment: Deeply discounted valuation: Analysts noted that ACN trades at roughly 12 times fiscal 2026 earnings following a steep decline, with an approximately 4% dividend yield. The valuation has prompted cautious views that the market may be pricing in more permanent business damage than ultimately occurs. ACN Got Cheaper. The Business Did Not Get Worse
• Neutral Sentiment: Insider selling disclosed: General Counsel Joel Unruch sold 10,498 shares for about $1.7 million, reducing his holdings by 37.2%. Because the transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 plan, it offers limited insight into current management expectations. Accenture Insider Trading Filing
• Negative Sentiment: Execution concerns remain: Accenture’s organic growth is weak and bookings have declined, while Capgemini’s stronger performance suggests that some of ACN’s pressure may reflect company-specific execution issues rather than industry conditions. AI initiatives are promising, but their ability to scale and expand margins remains unproven. Accenture: The Market Is Pricing In Too Much Permanent Damage

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently weighed in on ACN. Dbs Bank downgraded Accenture from a “moderate buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 23rd. 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. TD Cowen lowered shares of Accenture from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and cut their price objective for the stock from $258.00 to $150.00 in a report on Monday, June 22nd. Guggenheim lowered their target price on shares of Accenture from $225.00 to $185.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday, June 22nd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on shares of Accenture from $247.00 to $201.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, June 8th. Twelve analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fourteen have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Accenture presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $192.96.

Insider Activity

In other news, General Counsel Joel Unruch sold 10,498 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $162.98, for a total value of $1,710,964.04. Following the completion of the sale, the general counsel owned 17,735 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,890,450.30. This represents a 37.18% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. 0.02% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Accenture Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:ACN opened at $166.34 on Monday. The business has a 50-day moving average of $152.56 and a two-hundred day moving average of $190.48. The firm has a market capitalization of $111.08 billion, a PE ratio of 13.29, a P/E/G ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 1.13. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a current ratio of 1.34 and a quick ratio of 1.34. Accenture PLC has a 12 month low of $118.15 and a 12 month high of $291.09.

Accenture (NYSE:ACN) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, June 18th. The information technology services provider reported $3.80 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.70 by $0.10. Accenture had a return on equity of 26.47% and a net margin of 10.66%.The business had revenue of $18.72 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $18.78 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $3.49 EPS. The company’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. As a group, research analysts forecast that Accenture PLC will post 13.85 earnings per share for the current year.

Accenture Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 14th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, July 9th will be paid a dividend of $1.63 per share. This represents a $6.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.9%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, July 9th. Accenture’s payout ratio is currently 52.08%.

Accenture declared that its board has approved a stock repurchase plan on Tuesday, June 23rd that authorizes the company to repurchase $2.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the information technology services provider to repurchase up to 2.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are usually a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

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.