Principal Financial Group Inc. Grows Position in Accenture PLC $ACN

Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Accenture PLC (NYSE:ACN) by 1.2% during the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 773,483 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 9,023 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in Accenture were worth $153,374,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in ACN. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Accenture by 1.3% in the 4th 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 during the period. State Street Corp lifted its position in Accenture by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 28,264,675 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $7,583,462,000 after acquiring an additional 129,610 shares during the period. Capital International Investors boosted its stake 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 in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Accenture by 1.5% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 14,656,436 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $3,922,212,000 after purchasing an additional 218,719 shares during the period. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its stake in shares of Accenture by 5.4% during the fourth 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 purchasing an additional 546,198 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 75.14% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Accenture

In other Accenture news, CEO Atsushi Egawa sold 4,872 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 directly 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 sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. 0.02% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Accenture Stock Performance

Accenture stock opened at $134.71 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a current ratio of 1.34 and a quick ratio of 1.34. The company’s 50-day moving average is $158.58 and its 200 day moving average is $201.58. Accenture PLC has a 1-year low of $118.15 and a 1-year high of $291.09. The firm has a market capitalization of $89.96 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.76, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 1.13.

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 company had revenue of $18.72 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $18.78 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $3.49 earnings per share. The firm’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. Research analysts forecast that Accenture PLC will post 13.85 EPS for the current year.

Accenture announced that its board has approved a share repurchase program on Tuesday, June 23rd that authorizes the company to buyback $2.00 billion in 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 programs are usually a sign that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Accenture Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 14th. Investors of record on Thursday, July 9th will be issued a $1.63 dividend. This represents a $6.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.8%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, July 9th. Accenture’s dividend payout ratio is 52.08%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently commented on ACN shares. Dbs Bank cut Accenture from a “moderate buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $200.00 target price on shares of Accenture in a report on Monday, June 22nd. Mizuho reduced their price target on Accenture from $280.00 to $226.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, June 23rd. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their target price on shares of Accenture from $210.00 to $185.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, June 15th. Finally, Berenberg Bank reduced their target price on Accenture from $273.00 to $220.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, June 17th. Twelve investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fourteen have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Accenture currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $193.19.

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.