Accenture PLC $ACN Shares Acquired by ZWJ Investment Counsel Inc.

ZWJ Investment Counsel Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Accenture PLC (NYSE:ACN) by 13.6% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 118,295 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 14,147 shares during the quarter. ZWJ Investment Counsel Inc.’s holdings in Accenture were worth $29,172,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of ACN. Brighton Jones LLC boosted its stake in shares of Accenture by 36.2% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 18,438 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $6,486,000 after buying an additional 4,905 shares during the period. Samalin Investment Counsel LLC lifted its position in Accenture by 21.5% during the 1st quarter. Samalin Investment Counsel LLC now owns 1,636 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $511,000 after acquiring an additional 290 shares during the period. CreativeOne Wealth LLC increased its holdings in shares of Accenture by 6.3% in the first quarter. CreativeOne Wealth LLC now owns 5,523 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $1,723,000 after purchasing an additional 329 shares during the period. Wealth Preservation Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Accenture during the first quarter worth $176,000. Finally, OMERS ADMINISTRATION Corp grew its position in Accenture by 0.9% in the 1st quarter. OMERS ADMINISTRATION Corp now owns 345,172 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $107,707,000 after buying an additional 2,937 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.14% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Accenture news, insider Manish Sharma sold 6,902 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $250.01, for a total value of $1,725,569.02. Following the sale, the insider owned 1,860 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $465,018.60. This represents a 78.77% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Ryoji Sekido sold 2,500 shares of Accenture stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $249.47, for a total value of $623,675.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 1,390 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $346,763.30. This represents a 64.27% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 33,319 shares of company stock worth $8,335,225. Insiders own 0.02% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have recently commented on the stock. Dbs Bank upgraded shares of Accenture from a “hold” rating to a “moderate buy” rating in a research note on Monday, October 27th. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “buy” rating and issued a $330.00 price objective on shares of Accenture in a research report on Thursday, December 18th. BMO Capital Markets reiterated a “market perform” rating and set a $300.00 target price on shares of Accenture in a research report on Thursday, December 18th. Wall Street Zen downgraded Accenture from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, October 11th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada set a $300.00 price objective on Accenture in a report on Thursday, December 18th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have issued a Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $298.29.

Accenture Stock Performance

ACN opened at $270.08 on Thursday. Accenture PLC has a 1-year low of $229.40 and a 1-year high of $398.35. The stock has a market cap of $177.84 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.32, a P/E/G ratio of 2.61 and a beta of 1.26. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $254.49 and its 200 day simple moving average is $262.74. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 1.41 and a quick ratio of 1.41.

Accenture (NYSE:ACN) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, December 18th. The information technology services provider reported $3.94 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 quarterly revenue was up 5.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $3.59 earnings per share. Accenture has set its FY 2026 guidance at 13.520-13.900 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Accenture PLC will post 12.73 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Accenture Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 13th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, January 13th will be issued a dividend of $1.63 per share. This represents a $6.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.4%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, January 13th. Accenture’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 53.88%.

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.