Accenture PLC $ACN Shares Bought by Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc.

Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Accenture PLC (NYSE:ACN) by 6.4% in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 872,835 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 52,559 shares during the period. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Accenture were worth $215,241,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in ACN. Running Oak Capital LLC boosted its holdings in Accenture by 14.3% in the third quarter. Running Oak Capital LLC now owns 57,541 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $14,190,000 after purchasing an additional 7,190 shares during the period. Global Retirement Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Accenture during the second quarter worth about $2,658,000. C WorldWide Group Holding A S lifted its holdings in Accenture by 35.9% in the second quarter. C WorldWide Group Holding A S now owns 8,148 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $2,435,000 after acquiring an additional 2,151 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Accenture in the second quarter valued at approximately $2,216,850,000. Finally, D.A. Davidson & CO. raised its position in shares of Accenture by 17.4% during the 3rd quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. now owns 258,599 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $63,771,000 after purchasing an additional 38,325 shares during the period. 75.14% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Accenture Trading Up 3.2%

Shares of Accenture stock opened at $240.95 on Friday. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $270.21 and a 200-day simple moving average of $256.54. The firm has a market cap of $148.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.91, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.32 and a beta of 1.24. Accenture PLC has a fifty-two week low of $229.40 and a fifty-two week high of $392.02. The company has a quick ratio of 1.41, a current ratio of 1.41 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16.

Accenture (NYSE:ACN) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, December 18th. The information technology services provider reported $3.94 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.73 by $0.21. The company had revenue of $18.74 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $18.51 billion. Accenture had a net margin of 10.76% and a return on equity of 26.65%. Accenture’s revenue was up 5.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $3.59 EPS. Accenture has set its FY 2026 guidance at 13.520-13.900 EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that Accenture PLC will post 12.73 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Accenture Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 13th. Stockholders 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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.7%. Accenture’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 53.88%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts recently commented on ACN shares. TD Cowen upped their price objective on Accenture from $295.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, December 19th. HSBC increased their price objective on shares of Accenture from $215.00 to $235.00 in a report on Friday, December 19th. Argus reduced their target price on shares of Accenture from $370.00 to $335.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Guggenheim lifted their price target on Accenture from $285.00 to $305.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, December 15th. Finally, UBS Group cut Accenture from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 22nd. Sixteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eleven have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $298.38.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CAO Melissa A. Burgum sold 3,588 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $281.01, for a total value of $1,008,263.88. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer owned 8,179 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,298,380.79. This represents a 30.49% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Julie Spellman Sweet sold 1,694 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $288.30, for a total transaction of $488,380.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 37,346 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,766,851.80. This represents a 4.34% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold a total of 16,031 shares of company stock worth $4,509,304 over the last three months. Company insiders own 0.02% of the company’s stock.

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.