KBC Group NV Sells 47,893 Shares of Accenture PLC $ACN

KBC Group NV lessened its holdings in Accenture PLC (NYSE:ACN) by 20.0% during the first quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 191,541 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock after selling 47,893 shares during the quarter. KBC Group NV’s holdings in Accenture were worth $37,981,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of ACN. Brighton Jones LLC boosted its position in Accenture by 36.2% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 18,438 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $6,486,000 after buying an additional 4,905 shares in the last quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC boosted its position in Accenture by 46.9% during the 2nd quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC now owns 2,066 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $618,000 after buying an additional 660 shares during the period. United Bank raised its stake in shares of Accenture by 49.8% during the second quarter. United Bank now owns 3,639 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $1,088,000 after acquiring an additional 1,209 shares during the last quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia raised its position in Accenture by 23.0% during the 2nd quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia now owns 828 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $247,000 after purchasing an additional 155 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Main Street Financial Solutions LLC increased its stake in shares of Accenture by 4.2% in the second quarter. Main Street Financial Solutions LLC now owns 1,767 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $528,000 after buying an additional 72 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.14% of the company’s stock.

Accenture Stock Performance

Shares of Accenture stock opened at $144.63 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $96.58 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.55, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.49 and a beta of 1.13. The company has a current ratio of 1.34, a quick ratio of 1.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $155.82 and its 200 day simple moving average is $197.97. Accenture PLC has a 12 month low of $118.15 and a 12 month high of $291.09.

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

Accenture announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a share repurchase plan on Tuesday, June 23rd that authorizes the company to repurchase $2.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the information technology services provider to repurchase up to 2.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are usually a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Accenture Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Atsushi Egawa sold 4,872 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 12,802 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,267,746.28. The trade was a 27.57% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. 0.02% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ACN has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. HSBC decreased their price objective on shares of Accenture from $220.00 to $210.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 14th. BNP Paribas Exane cut their target price on shares of Accenture from $180.00 to $130.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, June 26th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reissued a “hold” rating and set a $136.00 price objective on shares of Accenture in a research report on Friday, July 10th. Susquehanna decreased their price objective on Accenture from $186.00 to $140.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday, June 22nd. Finally, Robert W. Baird set a $190.00 price objective on shares of Accenture in a report on Thursday, June 18th. Twelve analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fourteen have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Accenture has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $192.96.

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.