Ascent Wealth Partners LLC Trims Stock Position in Accenture PLC $ACN

Ascent Wealth Partners LLC lessened its stake in Accenture PLC (NYSE:ACN) by 92.9% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,445 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock after selling 31,884 shares during the quarter. Ascent Wealth Partners LLC’s holdings in Accenture were worth $485,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Accenture during the fourth quarter worth $2,146,995,000. Voloridge Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in Accenture in the third quarter valued at $311,694,000. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its position in shares of Accenture by 15.9% in the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 8,173,338 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $2,192,907,000 after acquiring an additional 1,122,855 shares during the period. Pzena Investment Management LLC raised its position in shares of Accenture by 84.0% in the first quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC now owns 2,405,683 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $477,023,000 after acquiring an additional 1,097,961 shares during the period. Finally, FIL Ltd boosted its stake in shares of Accenture by 33.5% during the 4th quarter. FIL Ltd now owns 3,921,049 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $1,052,017,000 after acquiring an additional 983,840 shares in the last quarter. 75.14% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Accenture Price Performance

NYSE:ACN opened at $143.56 on Monday. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $156.38 and a two-hundred day moving average of $198.86. Accenture PLC has a 12 month low of $118.15 and a 12 month high of $291.09. The firm has a market cap of $95.87 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.47, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.49 and a beta of 1.13. The company has a current ratio of 1.34, a quick ratio of 1.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15.

Accenture (NYSE:ACN) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, June 18th. The information technology services provider reported $3.80 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.70 by $0.10. Accenture had a return on equity of 26.47% and a net margin of 10.66%.The firm had revenue of $18.72 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $18.78 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $3.49 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 5.6% on a year-over-year basis. Accenture has set its FY 2026 guidance at 13.780-13.900 EPS. On average, analysts expect that Accenture PLC will post 13.85 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Accenture announced that its board has approved a share buyback plan on Tuesday, June 23rd that allows the company to repurchase $2.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the information technology services provider to buy up to 2.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are often an indication that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Accenture Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 14th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, July 9th will be issued a dividend of $1.63 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, July 9th. This represents a $6.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.5%. Accenture’s dividend payout ratio is presently 52.08%.

Insider Activity at Accenture

In other news, CEO Atsushi Egawa sold 4,872 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $177.14, for a total value of $863,026.08. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 12,802 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,267,746.28. This trade represents a 27.57% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. 0.02% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ACN has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. HSBC cut their price target on Accenture from $220.00 to $210.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 14th. Berenberg Bank dropped their price objective on Accenture from $273.00 to $220.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, June 17th. Citigroup cut their price objective on Accenture from $215.00 to $195.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, June 1st. Weiss Ratings lowered Accenture from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 9th. Finally, Mizuho dropped their price target on shares of Accenture from $280.00 to $226.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, June 23rd. Twelve equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fourteen have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $193.19.

About Accenture

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.