Accenture PLC $ACN Shares Bought by Verity & Verity LLC

Verity & Verity LLC lifted its position in shares of Accenture PLC (NYSE:ACN) by 631.1% during the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 66,062 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 57,026 shares during the period. Verity & Verity LLC’s holdings in Accenture were worth $16,291,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Brighton Jones LLC boosted its stake in shares of Accenture by 36.2% during the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 18,438 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $6,486,000 after acquiring an additional 4,905 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Accenture by 7.1% during the first quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 205,473 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $62,318,000 after purchasing an additional 13,651 shares in the last quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. grew its holdings in Accenture by 340.7% in the first quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 464,864 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $145,056,000 after purchasing an additional 359,389 shares during the period. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC raised its stake in shares of Accenture by 1.9% during the 1st quarter. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC now owns 15,157 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $4,729,000 after buying an additional 283 shares during the period. Finally, MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. lifted its position in shares of Accenture by 18.1% during the 1st quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 365,187 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $113,923,000 after buying an additional 55,849 shares in the last quarter. 75.14% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have weighed in on ACN. Mizuho reduced their price objective on shares of Accenture from $348.00 to $309.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, September 29th. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “buy” rating and set a $330.00 price target on shares of Accenture in a research report on Thursday, December 18th. Evercore ISI reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $300.00 price objective on shares of Accenture in a report on Thursday, December 18th. Rothschild & Co Redburn boosted their price objective on Accenture from $250.00 to $255.00 in a research note on Friday, September 19th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised their target price on Accenture from $250.00 to $270.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 10th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have assigned a Buy rating, eleven have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Accenture currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $296.83.

Accenture Price Performance

ACN stock opened at $259.78 on Friday. Accenture PLC has a 1 year low of $229.40 and a 1 year high of $398.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 1.41 and a quick ratio of 1.41. The firm has a market capitalization of $159.92 billion, a PE ratio of 21.47, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.59 and a beta of 1.25. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $257.83 and a 200-day simple moving average of $260.77.

Accenture (NYSE:ACN) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, December 18th. The information technology services provider reported $3.94 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.73 by $0.21. The company had revenue of $18.74 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $18.51 billion. Accenture had a return on equity of 26.65% and a net margin of 10.76%.The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $3.59 earnings per share. Accenture has set its FY 2026 guidance at 13.520-13.900 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that Accenture PLC will post 12.73 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Accenture Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 13th. Investors of record on Tuesday, January 13th will be given a dividend of $1.63 per share. This represents a $6.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.5%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, January 13th. Accenture’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 53.88%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Accenture news, insider Manish Sharma sold 6,902 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $250.01, for a total value of $1,725,569.02. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 1,860 shares in the company, valued at $465,018.60. The trade was a 78.77% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Ryoji Sekido sold 2,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $249.47, for a total transaction of $623,675.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 1,390 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $346,763.30. This represents a 64.27% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold 33,319 shares of company stock valued at $8,335,225 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.02% of the company’s stock.

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.