Bell Asset Management Ltd Decreases Stock Position in Accenture PLC $ACN

Bell Asset Management Ltd decreased its position in Accenture PLC (NYSE:ACN) by 21.7% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 24,911 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock after selling 6,904 shares during the quarter. Accenture accounts for about 1.6% of Bell Asset Management Ltd’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 15th largest holding. Bell Asset Management Ltd’s holdings in Accenture were worth $7,446,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Aprio Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Accenture by 2.1% during the 1st quarter. Aprio Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,640 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $512,000 after buying an additional 33 shares during the last quarter. TCTC Holdings LLC grew its holdings in Accenture by 14.5% during the 1st quarter. TCTC Holdings LLC now owns 269 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $84,000 after acquiring an additional 34 shares in the last quarter. Texas Bank & Trust Co raised its stake in shares of Accenture by 0.4% in the 1st quarter. Texas Bank & Trust Co now owns 8,181 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $2,553,000 after purchasing an additional 35 shares in the last quarter. Norway Savings Bank lifted its position in shares of Accenture by 0.9% during the second quarter. Norway Savings Bank now owns 4,123 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $1,232,000 after purchasing an additional 36 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Firethorn Wealth Partners LLC increased its holdings in Accenture by 4.4% in the second quarter. Firethorn Wealth Partners LLC now owns 854 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $255,000 after buying an additional 36 shares during the last quarter. 75.14% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Ryoji Sekido sold 2,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the chief executive officer owned 1,390 shares in the company, valued at $346,763.30. This represents a 64.27% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Julie Spellman Sweet sold 5,917 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $246.62, for a total transaction of $1,459,250.54. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 8,599 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,120,685.38. The trade was a 40.76% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold 33,319 shares of company stock valued at $8,335,225 over the last 90 days. 0.02% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently commented on the company. Wall Street Zen lowered Accenture from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, October 11th. Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Accenture in a report on Tuesday, September 30th. Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on shares of Accenture from $325.00 to $271.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, September 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on shares of Accenture from $302.00 to $290.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, September 26th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company assumed coverage on Accenture in a report on Tuesday, October 21st. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $251.00 target price for the company. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have given a Buy rating, eleven have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Accenture presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $294.25.

Accenture Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:ACN opened at $247.91 on Thursday. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $244.81 and its two-hundred day moving average is $269.66. The firm has a market capitalization of $163.24 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.40, a PEG ratio of 2.16 and a beta of 1.28. The company has a current ratio of 1.42, a quick ratio of 1.42 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. Accenture PLC has a 52 week low of $229.40 and a 52 week high of $398.35.

Accenture (NYSE:ACN) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, September 25th. The information technology services provider reported $3.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.98 by $0.05. Accenture had a return on equity of 26.45% and a net margin of 11.02%.The business had revenue of $17.60 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $17.34 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.66 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 7.3% on a year-over-year basis. Accenture has set its FY 2026 guidance at 13.190-13.570 EPS. Q1 2026 guidance at EPS. Analysts anticipate that Accenture PLC will post 12.73 earnings per share for the current year.

Accenture Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 14th. Investors of record on Friday, October 10th were paid a dividend of $1.63 per share. This is an increase from Accenture’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.48. This represents a $6.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.6%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, October 10th. Accenture’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 53.66%.

Accenture Profile

Accenture plc, a professional services company, provides strategy and consulting, industry X, song, and technology and operation services worldwide. The company offers application services, including agile transformation, DevOps, application modernization, enterprise architecture, software and quality engineering, data management; intelligent automation comprising robotic process automation, natural language processing, and virtual agents; and application management services, as well as software engineering services; strategy and consulting services; data and analytics strategy, data discovery and augmentation, data management and beyond, data democratization, and industrialized solutions comprising turnkey analytics and artificial intelligence (AI) solutions; metaverse; and sustainability services.