Stephens Inc. AR Sells 15,206 Shares of Accenture PLC $ACN

Stephens Inc. AR lessened its position in shares of Accenture PLC (NYSE:ACN) by 71.4% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 6,087 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock after selling 15,206 shares during the quarter. Stephens Inc. AR’s holdings in Accenture were worth $1,286,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Jaffetilchin Investment Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of Accenture by 4.2% in the fourth quarter. Jaffetilchin Investment Partners LLC now owns 878 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $236,000 after purchasing an additional 35 shares in the last quarter. Clayton Financial Group LLC lifted its position in Accenture by 13.1% during the fourth quarter. Clayton Financial Group LLC now owns 329 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $88,000 after purchasing an additional 38 shares during the last quarter. Holt Capital Advisors L.L.C. dba Holt Capital Partners L.P. grew its stake in shares of Accenture by 0.9% in the 3rd quarter. Holt Capital Advisors L.L.C. dba Holt Capital Partners L.P. now owns 4,416 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $1,089,000 after buying an additional 41 shares in the last quarter. Peak Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Accenture by 0.8% in the 4th quarter. Peak Asset Management LLC now owns 5,447 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $1,461,000 after buying an additional 43 shares during the last quarter. Finally, SkyView Investment Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Accenture by 1.2% during the 2nd quarter. SkyView Investment Advisors LLC now owns 3,751 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $1,108,000 after buying an additional 43 shares in the last quarter. 75.14% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Accenture

In other Accenture news, CEO Atsushi Egawa sold 4,872 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $177.14, for a total value of $863,026.08. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 12,802 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,267,746.28. The trade was a 27.57% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a 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 currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts recently commented on ACN shares. Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on Accenture from $177.00 to $130.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, June 22nd. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their price objective on Accenture from $270.00 to $230.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, June 18th. Royal Bank Of Canada dropped their target price on Accenture from $253.00 to $175.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, June 22nd. Stifel Nicolaus cut their target price on Accenture from $315.00 to $270.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, June 3rd. Finally, Berenberg Bank decreased their price target on Accenture from $273.00 to $220.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, June 17th. Twelve investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and fifteen have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $193.33.

Accenture Price Performance

Shares of ACN stock opened at $138.93 on Friday. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $161.18 and a 200 day moving average price of $204.42. Accenture PLC has a 52-week low of $118.15 and a 52-week high of $292.60. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a quick ratio of 1.34 and a current ratio of 1.34. The firm has a market capitalization of $92.78 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.10, a P/E/G ratio of 1.36 and a beta of 1.13.

Accenture (NYSE:ACN) last released its earnings results on Thursday, June 18th. The information technology services provider reported $3.80 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 quarter last year, the firm posted $3.49 earnings per share. 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. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Accenture PLC will post 13.85 earnings per share for the current year.

Accenture declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock repurchase program on Tuesday, June 23rd that permits the company to repurchase $2.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the information technology services provider to buy up to 2.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are typically an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Accenture Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 14th. Investors of record on Thursday, July 9th will be issued a dividend of $1.63 per share. The ex-dividend date 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 presently 52.08%.

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.