Artisan Partners Limited Partnership Invests $127.62 Million in Accenture PLC $ACN

Artisan Partners Limited Partnership bought a new stake in Accenture PLC (NYSE:ACN) during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm bought 517,497 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $127,615,000. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership owned about 0.08% of Accenture as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of ACN. SkyView Investment Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Accenture by 1.2% during the second quarter. SkyView Investment Advisors LLC now owns 3,751 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $1,108,000 after purchasing an additional 43 shares during the last quarter. Alpha Cubed Investments LLC lifted its position in Accenture by 6.4% during the 2nd quarter. Alpha Cubed Investments LLC now owns 744 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $222,000 after buying an additional 45 shares in the last quarter. Councilmark Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Accenture by 0.5% in the 2nd quarter. Councilmark Asset Management LLC now owns 9,344 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $2,793,000 after acquiring an additional 45 shares in the last quarter. Investors Research Corp increased its position in shares of Accenture by 73.8% in the third quarter. Investors Research Corp now owns 106 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 45 shares during the last quarter. Finally, WP Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Accenture by 1.0% during the second quarter. WP Advisors LLC now owns 4,719 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $1,410,000 after acquiring an additional 46 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.14% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have weighed in on ACN shares. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price target on Accenture from $270.00 to $280.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 8th. Truist Financial began coverage on shares of Accenture in a report on Tuesday, January 6th. They set a “buy” rating and a $317.00 target price on the stock. UBS Group cut shares of Accenture from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 22nd. Wolfe Research boosted their price objective on shares of Accenture from $300.00 to $330.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 11th. Finally, Argus cut their target price on shares of Accenture from $370.00 to $335.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Sixteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eleven have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $296.42.

Insider Transactions at Accenture

In related news, insider Manish Sharma sold 2,731 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $288.13, for a total transaction of $786,883.03. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 7,057 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,033,333.41. This trade represents a 27.90% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, General Counsel Joel Unruch sold 1,332 shares of Accenture stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $275.00, for a total transaction of $366,300.00. Following the completion of the sale, the general counsel owned 28,207 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,756,925. This trade represents a 4.51% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 22,088 shares of company stock worth $5,970,434. 0.02% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Accenture Price Performance

Shares of ACN opened at $208.35 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $128.26 billion, a PE ratio of 17.22, a PEG ratio of 2.00 and a beta of 1.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 1.41 and a quick ratio of 1.41. The company’s 50-day moving average is $254.50 and its 200-day moving average is $251.85. Accenture PLC has a fifty-two week low of $188.73 and a fifty-two week high of $359.14.

Accenture (NYSE:ACN) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, December 18th. The information technology services provider reported $3.94 EPS 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 analyst estimates of $18.51 billion. Accenture had a net margin of 10.76% and a return on equity of 26.65%. Accenture’s quarterly revenue was up 5.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $3.59 EPS. Accenture has set its FY 2026 guidance at 13.520-13.900 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that Accenture PLC will post 12.73 EPS for the current year.

Accenture Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 13th. Investors of record on Tuesday, January 13th were paid a $1.63 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, January 13th. This represents a $6.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.1%. Accenture’s payout ratio is 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.