Accenture PLC $ACN Position Increased by Federated Hermes Inc.

Federated Hermes Inc. grew its stake in shares of Accenture PLC (NYSE:ACN) by 854.9% in the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 204,955 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 183,491 shares during the period. Federated Hermes Inc.’s holdings in Accenture were worth $50,542,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Brighton Jones LLC lifted its stake in Accenture by 36.2% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 18,438 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $6,486,000 after buying an additional 4,905 shares in the last quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of Accenture by 46.9% in the 2nd quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC now owns 2,066 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $618,000 after acquiring an additional 660 shares in the last quarter. PFG Investments LLC grew its position in Accenture by 14.3% during the 2nd quarter. PFG Investments LLC now owns 3,040 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $909,000 after purchasing an additional 381 shares in the last quarter. SOA Wealth Advisors LLC. raised its stake in Accenture by 75.6% during the 2nd quarter. SOA Wealth Advisors LLC. now owns 548 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $164,000 after purchasing an additional 236 shares during the period. Finally, Precision Wealth Strategies LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Accenture in the second quarter valued at $564,000. 75.14% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at Accenture

In other Accenture news, COO Catherine Kiernan Hogan sold 660 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $280.93, for a total transaction of $185,413.80. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer owned 12,688 shares in the company, valued at $3,564,439.84. This trade represents a 4.94% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Julie Spellman Sweet sold 1,694 shares of Accenture stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $288.30, for a total transaction of $488,380.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 37,346 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,766,851.80. This represents a 4.34% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last quarter, insiders sold 21,934 shares of company stock worth $5,965,166. 0.02% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Accenture Price Performance

NYSE ACN opened at $261.01 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.41, a current ratio of 1.41 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. The stock has a market capitalization of $160.68 billion, a PE ratio of 21.57, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.60 and a beta of 1.25. Accenture PLC has a 12-month low of $229.40 and a 12-month high of $398.35. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $270.28 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $258.11.

Accenture (NYSE:ACN) last released its quarterly 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. The business had revenue of $18.74 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $18.51 billion. Accenture had a net margin of 10.76% and a return on equity of 26.65%. Accenture’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $3.59 EPS. Accenture has set its FY 2026 guidance at 13.520-13.900 EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict that Accenture PLC will post 12.73 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Accenture Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 13th. Investors of record on Tuesday, January 13th will be issued a $1.63 dividend. This represents a $6.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.5%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, January 13th. Accenture’s payout ratio is 53.88%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on Accenture from $251.00 to $275.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 14th. Guggenheim upped their target price on Accenture from $285.00 to $305.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, December 15th. Susquehanna raised their price target on shares of Accenture from $270.00 to $277.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, December 19th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price objective on shares of Accenture from $265.00 to $280.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Accenture in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Sixteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $298.38.

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.