Accenture PLC $ACN Stock Holdings Lifted by Clark Capital Management Group Inc.

Clark Capital Management Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Accenture PLC (NYSE:ACN) by 139.5% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 435,499 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 253,652 shares during the period. Clark Capital Management Group Inc.’s holdings in Accenture were worth $116,844,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of ACN. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Accenture in the 4th quarter worth about $2,146,995,000. Capital International Investors lifted its position in shares of Accenture by 41.1% in the 3rd quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 17,128,134 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $4,223,839,000 after buying an additional 4,984,930 shares during the last quarter. Voloridge Investment Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Accenture in the 3rd quarter worth about $311,694,000. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its position in shares of Accenture by 15.9% in the 4th quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 8,173,338 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $2,192,907,000 after buying an additional 1,122,855 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Capital World Investors bought a new position in shares of Accenture in the 3rd quarter worth about $268,578,000. 75.14% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on ACN. BMO Capital Markets reduced their price target on shares of Accenture from $300.00 to $230.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, March 20th. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Accenture in a research report on Tuesday, June 9th. Citigroup dropped their price objective on shares of Accenture from $215.00 to $195.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, June 1st. Piper Sandler set a $282.00 price objective on shares of Accenture in a report on Thursday, March 5th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group dropped their price objective on shares of Accenture from $210.00 to $185.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Monday. Sixteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eleven have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $245.85.

Accenture Stock Up 0.3%

ACN stock opened at $165.84 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.34, a current ratio of 1.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. Accenture PLC has a fifty-two week low of $155.82 and a fifty-two week high of $315.95. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $180.37 and its 200 day simple moving average is $220.51. The stock has a market cap of $110.36 billion, a PE ratio of 13.58, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.57 and a beta of 1.08.

Accenture (NYSE:ACN) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, March 20th. The information technology services provider reported $2.93 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.84 by $0.09. The business had revenue of $18.04 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $17.80 billion. Accenture had a net margin of 10.61% and a return on equity of 26.33%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $2.82 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Accenture PLC will post 13.83 EPS for the current year.

Accenture Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 9th were paid a dividend of $1.63 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, April 9th. This represents a $6.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.9%. Accenture’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 53.40%.

Key Accenture News

Here are the key news stories impacting Accenture this week:

• Negative Sentiment: Susquehanna cut its price target on Accenture to $186 from $222 and kept a neutral rating, adding to the cautious tone around the stock ahead of earnings. Susquehanna adjusts price target on Accenture
• Negative Sentiment: Jefferies also lowered its target on Accenture to $185 from $210 and maintained a hold rating, reinforcing concerns that near-term upside may be limited. Jefferies adjusts price target on Accenture
• Neutral Sentiment: Investors are waiting for Accenture’s fiscal third-quarter results on June 18, with expectations for revenue and EPS growth that could determine whether the recent weakness continues or reverses. Accenture set to report Q3 earnings
• Neutral Sentiment: Accenture is also in the spotlight after Unilever said it is scaling AI-enabled digital twins across its manufacturing network with Accenture, highlighting ongoing enterprise AI work, though the announcement is not a major immediate catalyst. Unilever scales digital twins across global manufacturing network with Accenture
• Neutral Sentiment: Accenture received an award recognizing its AI innovation across its workforce, which supports the company’s AI narrative but is unlikely to move the stock on its own. Accenture award underscores AI role

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Accenture news, CEO Atsushi Egawa sold 4,872 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $177.14, for a total transaction of $863,026.08. Following 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 position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders own 0.02% of the company’s stock.

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.