Welch & Forbes LLC Cuts Position in Accenture PLC $ACN

Welch & Forbes LLC lowered its position in Accenture PLC (NYSE:ACN) by 8.9% in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 111,598 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock after selling 10,923 shares during the quarter. Welch & Forbes LLC’s holdings in Accenture were worth $27,520,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Global Retirement Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Accenture in the second quarter valued at $2,658,000. C WorldWide Group Holding A S raised its position in shares of Accenture by 35.9% during the 2nd 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. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Accenture during the second quarter worth approximately $2,216,850,000. D.A. Davidson & CO. boosted its holdings in Accenture by 17.4% in the third quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. now owns 258,599 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $63,771,000 after purchasing an additional 38,325 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Prudential PLC increased its stake in Accenture by 20.4% in the second quarter. Prudential PLC now owns 56,130 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $16,777,000 after purchasing an additional 9,510 shares during the last quarter. 75.14% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Accenture Price Performance

Accenture stock opened at $263.58 on Friday. 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 business has a 50 day simple moving average of $270.51 and a 200-day simple moving average of $258.00. Accenture PLC has a 12 month low of $229.40 and a 12 month high of $398.35. The stock has a market capitalization of $162.26 billion, a PE ratio of 21.78, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 1.25.

Accenture (NYSE:ACN) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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. Accenture had a net margin of 10.76% and a return on equity of 26.65%. The company had revenue of $18.74 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $18.51 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $3.59 EPS. Accenture’s revenue was up 5.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Accenture has set its FY 2026 guidance at 13.520-13.900 EPS. Equities analysts predict that Accenture PLC will post 12.73 earnings per share for the current year.

Accenture Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 13th. Shareholders 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 yield of 2.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, January 13th. Accenture’s payout ratio is currently 53.88%.

Insider Activity at Accenture

In other Accenture news, CAO Melissa A. Burgum sold 3,588 shares of the stock in a transaction on 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 approximately $2,298,380.79. This represents a 30.49% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO John F. Walsh sold 3,986 shares of the firm’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 approximately $7,523,339.98. This trade represents a 12.77% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold a total of 21,934 shares of company stock worth $5,965,166 in the last three months. 0.02% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on ACN. Truist Financial initiated coverage on shares of Accenture in a report on Tuesday, January 6th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $317.00 target price for the company. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their target price on Accenture from $265.00 to $280.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, January 26th. Royal Bank Of Canada set a $300.00 target price on Accenture in a research report on Thursday, December 18th. Jefferies Financial Group lifted 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. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Accenture in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Sixteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, twelve have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Accenture currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $298.38.

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.