Canandaigua National Bank & Trust Co. Makes New $1.25 Million Investment in Accenture PLC $ACN

Canandaigua National Bank & Trust Co. acquired a new position in Accenture PLC (NYSE:ACN) during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund acquired 10,050 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,251,000.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Accenture during the fourth quarter worth $2,146,995,000. First Trust Advisors LP lifted its stake in Accenture by 120.0% during the first quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 3,482,150 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $690,475,000 after buying an additional 1,899,305 shares in the last quarter. Voloridge Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Accenture in the third quarter worth about $311,694,000. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its position in shares of Accenture by 15.9% in the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 8,173,338 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $2,192,907,000 after acquiring an additional 1,122,855 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Pzena Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Accenture by 84.0% during the first quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC now owns 2,405,683 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $477,023,000 after acquiring an additional 1,097,961 shares during the period. 75.14% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Accenture Trading Down 0.1%

Shares of NYSE ACN opened at $170.27 on Thursday. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $152.02 and a 200 day simple moving average of $188.04. Accenture PLC has a 52 week low of $118.15 and a 52 week high of $291.09. The stock has a market cap of $113.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.60, a PEG ratio of 1.76 and a beta of 1.09. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a quick ratio of 1.34 and a current ratio of 1.34.

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

Accenture Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 14th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, July 9th will be paid a $1.63 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, July 9th. This represents a $6.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.8%. Accenture’s payout ratio is presently 52.08%.

Accenture announced that its board has initiated a share repurchase plan on Tuesday, June 23rd that permits the company to buyback $2.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the information technology services provider to purchase up to 2.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are typically an indication that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ACN has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Robert W. Baird set a $190.00 target price on shares of Accenture in a research note on Thursday, June 18th. UBS Group reissued a “buy” rating and set a $275.00 price target on shares of Accenture in a research report on Wednesday, July 8th. Royal Bank Of Canada decreased their price objective on Accenture from $253.00 to $175.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, June 22nd. Evercore set a $180.00 target price on Accenture in a report on Thursday, June 18th. Finally, Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on shares of Accenture from $177.00 to $130.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, June 22nd. Twelve equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fourteen have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $192.96.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Accenture news, General Counsel Joel Unruch sold 10,498 shares of Accenture stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $162.98, for a total value of $1,710,964.04. Following the transaction, the general counsel directly owned 17,735 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,890,450.30. The trade was a 37.18% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. 0.02% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.