Accenture PLC $ACN Shares Sold by California State Teachers Retirement System

California State Teachers Retirement System cut its position in Accenture PLC (NYSE:ACN) by 3.2% during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 934,548 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock after selling 30,771 shares during the period. California State Teachers Retirement System owned 0.14% of Accenture worth $185,312,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Accenture by 1.3% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 66,070,930 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $17,726,831,000 after buying an additional 854,361 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its stake in shares of Accenture by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 28,264,675 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $7,583,462,000 after buying an additional 129,610 shares in the last quarter. Capital International Investors boosted its position in Accenture by 2.0% during the fourth quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 17,471,554 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $4,687,867,000 after acquiring an additional 343,420 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Accenture by 1.5% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 14,656,436 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $3,922,212,000 after acquiring an additional 218,719 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its holdings in Accenture by 5.4% in the 4th quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 10,693,994 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $2,869,199,000 after acquiring an additional 546,198 shares during the last quarter. 75.14% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Oppenheimer set a $201.00 target price on Accenture in a report on Monday, June 8th. Berenberg Bank lowered their price objective on Accenture from $273.00 to $220.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, June 17th. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their target price on Accenture from $210.00 to $185.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Monday, June 15th. William Blair downgraded Accenture from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, June 18th. Finally, Guggenheim reduced their price target on Accenture from $225.00 to $185.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, June 22nd. Twelve equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fourteen have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $192.96.

Accenture Stock Up 6.9%

NYSE:ACN opened at $164.62 on Wednesday. Accenture PLC has a 52 week low of $118.15 and a 52 week high of $291.09. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $153.22 and its two-hundred day moving average is $192.88. The stock has a market capitalization of $109.94 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.15, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.59 and a beta of 1.13. The company has a quick ratio of 1.34, a current ratio of 1.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15.

Accenture (NYSE:ACN) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, June 18th. The information technology services provider reported $3.80 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.70 by $0.10. Accenture had a return on equity of 26.47% and a net margin of 10.66%.The business had revenue of $18.72 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $18.78 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $3.49 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 5.6% on a year-over-year basis. Accenture has set its FY 2026 guidance at 13.780-13.900 EPS. Research analysts anticipate that Accenture PLC will post 13.85 EPS for the current year.

Accenture Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 14th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, July 9th will be given a dividend of $1.63 per share. This represents a $6.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, July 9th. Accenture’s dividend payout ratio is currently 52.08%.

Accenture declared that its Board of Directors has approved a stock buyback plan on Tuesday, June 23rd that allows the company to repurchase $2.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the information technology services provider to reacquire up to 2.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are generally a sign that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Atsushi Egawa sold 4,872 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $177.14, for a total value of $863,026.08. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 12,802 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,267,746.28. This trade represents a 27.57% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Corporate insiders own 0.02% of the company’s stock.

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.