First Fiduciary Investment Counsel Inc. Reduces Position in Accenture PLC $ACN

First Fiduciary Investment Counsel Inc. decreased its holdings in Accenture PLC (NYSE:ACN) by 41.0% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 17,866 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock after selling 12,400 shares during the period. First Fiduciary Investment Counsel Inc.’s holdings in Accenture were worth $4,406,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Investors Research Corp grew its holdings in Accenture by 73.8% in the 3rd quarter. Investors Research Corp now owns 106 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 45 shares in the last quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. boosted its position in shares of Accenture by 132.6% during the 3rd quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 107 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 61 shares during the last quarter. Davis Capital Management purchased a new stake in shares of Accenture in the third quarter valued at about $28,000. Elevation Wealth Partners LLC increased its position in Accenture by 146.0% during the third quarter. Elevation Wealth Partners LLC now owns 123 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 73 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Heartwood Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Accenture in the 3rd quarter valued at about $32,000. 75.14% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Accenture Stock Up 0.1%

Shares of NYSE ACN opened at $241.52 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $148.68 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.96, a PEG ratio of 2.32 and a beta of 1.24. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $270.68 and its 200-day simple moving average is $257.20. Accenture PLC has a 12-month low of $229.40 and a 12-month high of $398.35. 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 issued its quarterly earnings results 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. The company had revenue of $18.74 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $18.51 billion. Accenture had a return on equity of 26.65% and a net margin of 10.76%.Accenture’s 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. As a group, equities analysts predict 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 will be paid on Friday, February 13th. Investors of record on Tuesday, January 13th will be paid a $1.63 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, January 13th. This represents a $6.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.7%. 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 that occurred on Monday, January 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $281.01, for a total value of $1,008,263.88. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 8,179 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,298,380.79. This represents a 30.49% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Julie Spellman Sweet sold 1,694 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $288.30, for a total transaction of $488,380.20. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 37,346 shares in the company, valued at $10,766,851.80. The trade was a 4.34% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold a total of 16,017 shares of company stock worth $4,505,916 over the last ninety days. 0.02% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ACN has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Accenture from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, October 11th. Berenberg Bank started coverage on Accenture in a research note on Thursday, January 22nd. They set a “buy” rating and a $313.00 target price for the company. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “buy” rating and issued a $330.00 target price on shares of Accenture in a research report on Thursday, December 18th. Evercore ISI reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $300.00 price objective on shares of Accenture in a research report on Thursday, December 18th. Finally, HSBC boosted their price objective on shares of Accenture from $215.00 to $235.00 in a report on Friday, December 19th. Sixteen research 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. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $298.38.

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.