D.A. Davidson & CO. Has $63.77 Million Stock Position in Accenture PLC $ACN

D.A. Davidson & CO. raised its position in Accenture PLC (NYSE:ACN) by 17.4% during the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 258,599 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 38,325 shares during the quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO.’s holdings in Accenture were worth $63,771,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Sanders Capital LLC acquired a new position in Accenture in the second quarter worth approximately $2,637,640,000. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Accenture during the 2nd quarter worth $2,216,850,000. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Accenture by 2.1% during 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. McElhenny Sheffield Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Accenture in the 2nd quarter valued at $308,000. Finally, Flossbach Von Storch SE boosted its holdings in Accenture by 48.0% in the second quarter. Flossbach Von Storch SE now owns 2,408,800 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $719,966,000 after purchasing an additional 781,211 shares in the last quarter. 75.14% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In other Accenture news, CEO Julie Spellman Sweet sold 5,917 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $246.62, for a total value of $1,459,250.54. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 8,599 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,120,685.38. The trade was a 40.76% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Manish Sharma sold 6,902 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $250.01, for a total transaction of $1,725,569.02. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 1,860 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $465,018.60. The trade was a 78.77% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 33,319 shares of company stock worth $8,335,225. Company insiders own 0.02% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have weighed in on ACN. Cowen reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Accenture in a research report on Friday, September 26th. Wolfe Research boosted their target price on Accenture from $300.00 to $330.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, December 11th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on Accenture from $302.00 to $290.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, September 26th. Argus reduced their price objective on shares of Accenture from $370.00 to $335.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Finally, Robert W. Baird lowered their target price on shares of Accenture from $350.00 to $330.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, September 26th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have given a Buy rating, eleven have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $296.83.

Accenture Price Performance

Shares of Accenture stock opened at $259.78 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 1.41 and a quick ratio of 1.41. The company has a market cap of $159.92 billion, a PE ratio of 21.47, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.51 and a beta of 1.25. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $257.83 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $260.09. Accenture PLC has a fifty-two week low of $229.40 and a fifty-two week high of $398.35.

Accenture (NYSE:ACN) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 business had revenue of $18.74 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $18.51 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $3.59 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.7% on a year-over-year basis. Accenture has set its FY 2026 guidance at 13.520-13.900 EPS. Analysts expect that Accenture PLC will post 12.73 EPS for the current year.

Accenture Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 13th. Stockholders 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 dividend yield of 2.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, January 13th. Accenture’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 53.88%.

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.