Insider Selling: Accenture (NYSE:ACN) COO Sells $185,413.80 in Stock

Accenture PLC (NYSE:ACN) COO Catherine Kiernan Hogan sold 660 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $280.93, for a total transaction of $185,413.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer directly owned 12,688 shares in the company, valued at $3,564,439.84. This trade represents a 4.94% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink.

Accenture Price Performance

ACN stock opened at $261.01 on Friday. Accenture PLC has a 1 year low of $229.40 and a 1 year high of $398.35. The firm has a market capitalization of $160.68 billion, a PE ratio of 21.57, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.60 and a beta of 1.25. 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 business has a 50 day simple moving average of $270.28 and a 200-day simple moving average of $258.11.

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. Accenture had a return on equity of 26.65% and a net margin of 10.76%.The company had revenue of $18.74 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $18.51 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $3.59 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.7% compared to the same quarter last year. 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 announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 13th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, January 13th will be paid a dividend of $1.63 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, January 13th. This represents a $6.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.5%. Accenture’s payout ratio is 53.88%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Accenture

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Investors Research Corp raised its stake in shares of Accenture by 73.8% in the third quarter. Investors Research Corp now owns 106 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 45 shares in the last quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in Accenture by 132.6% during the 3rd quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 107 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 61 shares during the period. Triumph Capital Management acquired a new stake in Accenture in the 3rd quarter valued at about $26,000. Board of the Pension Protection Fund purchased a new position in shares of Accenture in the 4th quarter valued at about $27,000. Finally, Davis Capital Management acquired a new position in shares of Accenture during the third quarter worth about $28,000. 75.14% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts recently commented on ACN shares. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price objective on Accenture from $270.00 to $280.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, January 8th. Evercore ISI reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $300.00 price target on shares of Accenture in a research note on Thursday, December 18th. Susquehanna raised their price objective on Accenture from $270.00 to $277.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, December 19th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of Accenture from $251.00 to $275.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 14th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets reissued a “market perform” rating and issued a $300.00 price target on shares of Accenture in a research note on Thursday, December 18th. Sixteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, twelve have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $298.38.

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.