Accenture (NYSE:ACN) CEO Sells $1,101,650.68 in Stock

Accenture PLC (NYSE:ACN) CEO John Walsh sold 3,986 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $276.38, for a total transaction of $1,101,650.68. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 27,221 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,523,339.98. The trade was a 12.77% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink.

Accenture Trading Down 1.8%

Shares of NYSE:ACN traded down $5.01 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $275.70. 2,936,872 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,728,268. The business’s fifty day moving average is $268.58 and its 200-day moving average is $258.04. Accenture PLC has a 52-week low of $229.40 and a 52-week 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. The firm has a market capitalization of $169.72 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.78, a P/E/G ratio of 2.70 and a beta of 1.25.

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

Accenture Dividend Announcement

The firm 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 of this dividend is Tuesday, January 13th. This represents a $6.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.4%. Accenture’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 53.88%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ACN has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Susquehanna upped their price objective on shares of Accenture from $270.00 to $277.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, December 19th. Royal Bank Of Canada set a $300.00 target price on Accenture in a report on Thursday, December 18th. Mizuho cut their price objective on shares of Accenture from $348.00 to $309.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, September 29th. Berenberg Bank initiated coverage on shares of Accenture in a report on Thursday, January 22nd. They issued a “buy” rating and a $313.00 target price for the company. Finally, Wolfe Research increased their price target on Accenture from $300.00 to $330.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 11th. Sixteen equities 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’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $298.38.

Institutional Trading of Accenture

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Sanders Capital LLC acquired a new stake in Accenture during the second quarter valued at $2,637,640,000. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Accenture during the second quarter worth about $2,216,850,000. Capital International Investors grew its position in shares of Accenture by 41.1% in the third quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 17,128,134 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $4,223,839,000 after purchasing an additional 4,984,930 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of 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 worth $19,466,641,000 after acquiring an additional 1,315,548 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Voloridge Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in Accenture during the third quarter worth about $311,694,000. 75.14% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.