Spartan Wealth Advisory Services LLC Acquires New Stake in Accenture PLC $ACN

Spartan Wealth Advisory Services LLC bought a new position in shares of Accenture PLC (NYSE:ACN) in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor bought 5,129 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,017,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Accenture during the fourth quarter worth about $2,146,995,000. Voloridge Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in Accenture in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $311,694,000. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its stake in 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 valued at $2,192,907,000 after acquiring an additional 1,122,855 shares in the last quarter. 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 acquiring an additional 1,097,961 shares during the last quarter. Finally, FIL Ltd grew its stake in shares of Accenture by 33.5% during the 4th quarter. FIL Ltd now owns 3,921,049 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $1,052,017,000 after acquiring an additional 983,840 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.14% of the company’s stock.

Accenture Price Performance

NYSE:ACN opened at $143.56 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $95.87 billion, a PE ratio of 11.47, a P/E/G ratio of 1.49 and a beta of 1.13. Accenture PLC has a 1-year low of $118.15 and a 1-year high of $291.09. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $156.38 and a 200 day simple moving average of $198.86. 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 (NYSE:ACN) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, June 18th. The information technology services provider reported $3.80 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.70 by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $18.72 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $18.78 billion. Accenture had a net margin of 10.66% and a return on equity of 26.47%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 5.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $3.49 earnings per share. Accenture has set its FY 2026 guidance at 13.780-13.900 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that Accenture PLC will post 13.85 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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

Accenture Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 14th. Investors of record on Thursday, July 9th will be paid a $1.63 dividend. This represents a $6.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.5%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, July 9th. Accenture’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 52.08%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Accenture news, CEO Atsushi Egawa sold 4,872 shares of the business’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 owned 12,802 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,267,746.28. The trade was a 27.57% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders own 0.02% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on ACN shares. Royal Bank Of Canada lowered their price objective on shares of Accenture from $253.00 to $175.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, June 22nd. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of Accenture from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 9th. Dbs Bank cut shares of Accenture from a “moderate buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 23rd. DA Davidson reduced their price objective on shares of Accenture from $275.00 to $175.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, June 23rd. Finally, William Blair cut Accenture from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, June 18th. Twelve research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fourteen have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $193.19.

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.