Aware Super Pty Ltd as trustee of Aware Super Takes $39.67 Million Position in Accenture PLC $ACN

Aware Super Pty Ltd as trustee of Aware Super bought a new position in shares of Accenture PLC (NYSE:ACN) in the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor bought 200,040 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $39,666,000.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in ACN. Triumph Capital Management acquired a new stake in Accenture in the third quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Board of the Pension Protection Fund acquired a new position in shares of Accenture in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in Accenture in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $27,000. McMillan Office Inc. bought a new position in shares of Accenture during the fourth quarter valued at $27,000. Finally, University of Texas Texas AM Investment Management Co. acquired a new position in Accenture during the 4th quarter worth about $27,000. 75.14% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Accenture Price Performance

Shares of NYSE ACN opened at $144.68 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $96.62 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.56, a P/E/G ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.13. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $157.11 and its 200-day moving average price is $199.76. The company has a current ratio of 1.34, a quick ratio of 1.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15. Accenture PLC has a 1-year low of $118.15 and a 1-year high of $291.09.

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

Accenture declared that its board has authorized a stock buyback program on Tuesday, June 23rd that allows the company to buyback $2.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the information technology services provider to reacquire up to 2.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are usually an indication that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Accenture Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 14th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, July 9th will be issued a dividend of $1.63 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, July 9th. This represents a $6.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.5%. Accenture’s payout ratio is currently 52.08%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Accenture

In other news, CEO Atsushi Egawa sold 4,872 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 12,802 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,267,746.28. This represents a 27.57% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available 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.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently commented on ACN. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their target price on Accenture from $270.00 to $230.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, June 18th. Dbs Bank downgraded shares of Accenture from a “moderate buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 23rd. Argus reduced their price objective on shares of Accenture from $335.00 to $220.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, June 22nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on Accenture from $247.00 to $201.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, June 8th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada cut their target price on Accenture from $253.00 to $175.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, June 22nd. 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. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price 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.