Accenture PLC $ACN Position Increased by Factory Mutual Insurance Co.

Factory Mutual Insurance Co. increased its stake in shares of Accenture PLC (NYSE:ACN) by 155.2% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 103,600 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock after buying an additional 63,000 shares during the quarter. Factory Mutual Insurance Co.’s holdings in Accenture were worth $25,548,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Sanders Capital LLC bought a new stake in Accenture in the 2nd quarter valued at about $2,637,640,000. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Accenture in the second quarter valued at approximately $2,216,850,000. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Accenture by 2.1% during the second 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 buying an additional 1,315,548 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its position in shares of Accenture by 12.8% during the third quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 10,147,796 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $2,502,446,000 after buying an additional 1,148,970 shares during the period. Finally, Flossbach Von Storch SE grew its holdings in Accenture by 48.0% in the 2nd 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 in the last quarter. 75.14% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Accenture news, CEO John F. Walsh sold 3,986 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $276.38, for a total transaction of $1,101,650.68. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 27,221 shares in the company, valued at $7,523,339.98. This represents a 12.77% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CAO Melissa A. Burgum sold 3,588 shares of Accenture stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $281.01, for a total value of $1,008,263.88. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 8,179 shares in the company, valued at $2,298,380.79. The trade was a 30.49% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold 22,088 shares of company stock valued at $5,970,434 in the last three months. Company insiders own 0.02% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have issued reports on the company. Susquehanna boosted their price target on Accenture from $270.00 to $277.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, December 19th. Truist Financial assumed coverage on shares of Accenture in a research report on Tuesday, January 6th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $317.00 target price for the company. UBS Group downgraded shares of Accenture from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 22nd. Argus decreased their price objective on shares of Accenture from $370.00 to $335.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday, December 29th. Finally, Guggenheim raised their price objective on shares of Accenture from $285.00 to $305.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, December 15th. Sixteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eleven have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $298.38.

Accenture Stock Down 4.2%

ACN stock opened at $214.27 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $131.91 billion, a PE ratio of 17.71, a PEG ratio of 2.15 and a beta of 1.24. Accenture PLC has a 1 year low of $211.06 and a 1 year high of $390.00. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $262.80 and a 200 day simple moving average of $253.60. The company has a current ratio of 1.41, a quick ratio of 1.41 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16.

Accenture (NYSE:ACN) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, December 18th. The information technology services provider reported $3.94 earnings per share 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 return on equity of 26.65% and a net margin of 10.76%.The business’s revenue was up 5.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $3.59 earnings per share. Accenture has set its FY 2026 guidance at 13.520-13.900 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Accenture PLC will post 12.73 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Accenture Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 13th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, January 13th were given a $1.63 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, January 13th. This represents a $6.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.0%. Accenture’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 53.88%.

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.