Accenture PLC $ACN Shares Bought by Provident Trust Co.

Provident Trust Co. grew its stake in Accenture PLC (NYSE:ACN) by 1.0% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,600,097 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 15,058 shares during the quarter. Accenture makes up 6.6% of Provident Trust Co.’s holdings, making the stock its 7th biggest position. Provident Trust Co. owned about 0.24% of Accenture worth $394,584,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of ACN. Sanders Capital LLC purchased a new position in shares of Accenture in the second quarter valued at approximately $2,637,640,000. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Accenture in the 2nd quarter valued at $2,216,850,000. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Accenture by 2.1% in the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 65,129,782 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $19,466,641,000 after purchasing an additional 1,315,548 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its holdings in shares of Accenture by 12.8% during the third quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 10,147,796 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $2,502,446,000 after buying an additional 1,148,970 shares in the last quarter. Finally, McElhenny Sheffield Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Accenture in the second quarter valued at about $308,000. 75.14% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Accenture Stock Performance

NYSE ACN opened at $281.00 on Friday. The stock 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. Accenture PLC has a twelve month low of $229.40 and a twelve month high of $398.35. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $267.78 and a 200-day simple moving average of $258.36. 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 posted its earnings results on Thursday, December 18th. The information technology services provider reported $3.94 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 quarter in the prior year, the company posted $3.59 earnings per share. Accenture’s revenue for the quarter 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 anticipate that Accenture PLC will post 12.73 earnings per share for the current year.

Accenture Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 13th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, January 13th will be paid 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 is 53.88%.

Insider Transactions at Accenture

In other news, CEO Mauro Macchi sold 500 shares of Accenture stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $280.00, for a total value of $140,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 7,123 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,994,440. The trade was a 6.56% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Julie Spellman Sweet sold 9,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $253.40, for a total value of $2,280,600.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 14,516 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,678,354.40. The trade was a 38.27% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 21,674 shares of company stock valued at $5,661,414. Corporate insiders own 0.02% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts recently issued reports on ACN shares. TD Cowen upped their price objective on shares of Accenture from $295.00 to $300.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, December 19th. Truist Financial started coverage on Accenture in a research report on Tuesday, January 6th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $317.00 price target for the company. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Accenture in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Guggenheim upped their target price on Accenture from $285.00 to $305.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, December 15th. Finally, UBS Group cut shares of Accenture from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday. Sixteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $297.81.

Accenture 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.