Baillie Gifford & Co. Has $56.54 Million Holdings in Accenture PLC $ACN

Baillie Gifford & Co. decreased its stake in shares of Accenture PLC (NYSE:ACN) by 2.3% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 229,258 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock after selling 5,307 shares during the quarter. Baillie Gifford & Co.’s holdings in Accenture were worth $56,535,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Global Retirement Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Accenture in the 2nd quarter valued at about $2,658,000. C WorldWide Group Holding A S boosted its holdings in Accenture by 35.9% in the second quarter. C WorldWide Group Holding A S now owns 8,148 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $2,435,000 after acquiring an additional 2,151 shares in the last quarter. Truist Financial Corp grew its stake in Accenture by 7.0% in the second quarter. Truist Financial Corp now owns 436,202 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $130,376,000 after acquiring an additional 28,685 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Accenture during the second quarter valued at approximately $2,216,850,000. Finally, D.A. Davidson & CO. raised its position in shares of Accenture by 17.4% during the third quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. now owns 258,599 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $63,771,000 after purchasing an additional 38,325 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.14% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Accenture

In other Accenture news, insider Manish Sharma sold 2,731 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $288.13, for a total value of $786,883.03. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 7,057 shares in the company, valued at $2,033,333.41. The trade was 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 the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $275.00, for a total transaction of $366,300.00. Following the sale, the general counsel owned 28,207 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,756,925. The trade was a 4.51% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 21,674 shares of company stock worth $5,661,414. Insiders own 0.02% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

ACN has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Wolfe Research boosted their price target 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. BMO Capital Markets reiterated a “market perform” rating and set a $300.00 price objective on shares of Accenture in a report on Thursday, December 18th. TD Cowen upped their target price on shares of Accenture from $295.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, December 19th. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price target on Accenture from $270.00 to $280.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 8th. Finally, HSBC increased their price objective on Accenture from $215.00 to $235.00 in a research note on Friday, December 19th. Sixteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, twelve have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $297.81.

Accenture Stock Performance

ACN stock opened at $281.00 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 firm has a market cap of $172.99 billion, a PE ratio of 23.22, a P/E/G ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 1.25. The business has a 50 day moving average of $267.78 and a 200-day moving average of $258.36. Accenture PLC has a 12-month low of $229.40 and a 12-month high of $398.35.

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

Accenture Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 13th. Investors of record on Tuesday, January 13th will be issued a dividend of $1.63 per share. This represents a $6.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.3%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, January 13th. Accenture’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 53.88%.

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.