GUARDCAP ASSET MANAGEMENT Ltd Has $176.72 Million Stock Position in Accenture PLC $ACN

GUARDCAP ASSET MANAGEMENT Ltd lowered its holdings in Accenture PLC (NYSE:ACN) by 9.7% in the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 716,624 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock after selling 76,564 shares during the period. Accenture makes up about 4.1% of GUARDCAP ASSET MANAGEMENT Ltd’s portfolio, making the stock its 12th largest holding. GUARDCAP ASSET MANAGEMENT Ltd owned approximately 0.11% of Accenture worth $176,719,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Sanders Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of Accenture in the 2nd quarter valued at about $2,637,640,000. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Accenture in the second quarter worth approximately $2,216,850,000. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in Accenture by 2.1% during the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 65,129,782 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $19,466,641,000 after purchasing an additional 1,315,548 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its stake in shares of Accenture by 12.8% in the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 10,147,796 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $2,502,446,000 after purchasing an additional 1,148,970 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Flossbach Von Storch SE increased its position in shares of Accenture by 48.0% during the second quarter. Flossbach Von Storch SE now owns 2,408,800 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $719,966,000 after buying an additional 781,211 shares during the period. 75.14% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Accenture news, CEO John F. Walsh sold 3,986 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $276.38, for a total value of $1,101,650.68. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 27,221 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,523,339.98. The trade was a 12.77% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, COO Catherine Kiernan Hogan sold 660 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, January 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $280.93, for a total transaction of $185,413.80. Following the sale, the chief operating officer owned 12,688 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,564,439.84. This represents a 4.94% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold 16,031 shares of company stock worth $4,509,304 in the last ninety days. 0.02% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

ACN has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price objective on Accenture from $265.00 to $280.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, January 26th. Dbs Bank upgraded Accenture from a “hold” rating to a “moderate buy” rating in a report on Monday, October 27th. Truist Financial assumed coverage on Accenture in a report on Tuesday, January 6th. They set a “buy” rating and a $317.00 price target on the stock. Wolfe Research lifted their price objective on shares of Accenture from $300.00 to $330.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 11th. Finally, TD Cowen increased their target price on shares of Accenture from $295.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, December 19th. Sixteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eleven have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $298.38.

Accenture Stock Performance

Shares of ACN stock opened at $236.97 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a quick ratio of 1.41 and a current ratio of 1.41. The firm has a market cap of $145.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.58, a P/E/G ratio of 2.32 and a beta of 1.24. Accenture PLC has a 52 week low of $229.40 and a 52 week high of $392.02. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $269.80 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $256.01.

Accenture (NYSE:ACN) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, December 18th. The information technology services provider reported $3.94 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.73 by $0.21. The company had revenue of $18.74 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $18.51 billion. Accenture had a net margin of 10.76% and a return on equity of 26.65%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 5.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $3.59 earnings per share. Accenture has set its FY 2026 guidance at 13.520-13.900 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Accenture PLC will post 12.73 earnings per share for the current year.

Accenture Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 13th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, January 13th will be issued a $1.63 dividend. This represents a $6.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.8%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, January 13th. Accenture’s payout ratio is presently 53.88%.

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.