Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund Boosts Holdings in Accenture PLC $ACN

Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund boosted its stake in Accenture PLC (NYSE:ACN) by 58.5% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 322,638 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 119,115 shares during the quarter. Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund’s holdings in Accenture were worth $63,976,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Accenture in the 4th quarter valued at about $2,146,995,000. Capital International Investors lifted its position in Accenture by 41.1% during 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 buying an additional 4,984,930 shares in the last quarter. Voloridge Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Accenture in the third quarter worth $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 boosted its position in Accenture by 84.0% during the 1st quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC now owns 2,405,683 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $477,023,000 after purchasing an additional 1,097,961 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.14% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have commented on ACN. HSBC reduced their price objective on Accenture from $220.00 to $210.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 14th. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Accenture in a research note on Tuesday, June 9th. Dbs Bank cut Accenture from a “moderate buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 23rd. BMO Capital Markets restated a “market perform” rating and issued a $150.00 price target on shares of Accenture in a research note on Friday, June 19th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $200.00 price target on shares of Accenture in a report on Monday, June 22nd. Twelve equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and fifteen have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Accenture has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $195.00.

Accenture Trading Up 4.8%

Accenture stock opened at $137.40 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a quick ratio of 1.34 and a current ratio of 1.34. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $165.36 and its 200-day moving average is $209.14. Accenture PLC has a 1 year low of $118.15 and a 1 year high of $307.77. The company has a market cap of $91.76 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.97, a PEG ratio of 1.30 and a beta of 1.14.

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

Accenture Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 14th. Investors of record on Thursday, July 9th will be given a $1.63 dividend. This represents a $6.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.7%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, July 9th. Accenture’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 52.08%.

Accenture declared that its board has approved a stock buyback plan on Tuesday, June 23rd that authorizes the company to buyback $2.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the information technology services provider to reacquire up to 2.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are generally an indication that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Accenture news, CEO Atsushi Egawa sold 4,872 shares of Accenture stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $177.14, for a total transaction of $863,026.08. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 12,802 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,267,746.28. The trade was a 27.57% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal 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. 0.02% of the stock is 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.