Accenture PLC $ACN Stock Holdings Lessened by Tandem Investment Advisors Inc.

Tandem Investment Advisors Inc. cut its position in shares of Accenture PLC (NYSE:ACN) by 99.2% in the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 3,039 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock after selling 381,695 shares during the quarter. Tandem Investment Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Accenture were worth $603,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in ACN. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Accenture by 1.3% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 66,070,930 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $17,726,831,000 after acquiring an additional 854,361 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its position in shares of Accenture by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 28,264,675 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $7,583,462,000 after buying an additional 129,610 shares during the last quarter. Capital International Investors boosted its stake in shares of Accenture by 2.0% during the 4th quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 17,471,554 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $4,687,867,000 after acquiring an additional 343,420 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Accenture by 1.5% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 14,656,436 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $3,922,212,000 after buying an additional 218,719 shares during the period. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its stake in Accenture by 5.4% during the 4th quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 10,693,994 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $2,869,199,000 after purchasing an additional 546,198 shares during the period. 75.14% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ACN has been the topic of several recent research reports. HSBC decreased their price objective on Accenture from $220.00 to $210.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 14th. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of Accenture from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a report on Thursday, July 9th. BNP Paribas Exane decreased their price target on Accenture from $180.00 to $130.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, June 26th. UBS Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $275.00 price target on shares of Accenture in a report on Wednesday, July 8th. Finally, Berenberg Bank reduced their price objective on Accenture from $273.00 to $220.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, June 17th. Twelve analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fourteen have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $193.19.

Accenture Price Performance

Shares of ACN stock opened at $143.56 on Friday. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $156.38 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $199.36. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a quick ratio of 1.34 and a current ratio of 1.34. Accenture PLC has a 52-week low of $118.15 and a 52-week high of $291.09. The stock has a market cap of $95.87 billion, a PE ratio of 11.47, a PEG ratio of 1.49 and a beta of 1.13.

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

Accenture Dividend Announcement

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

Accenture declared that its board has authorized a stock repurchase 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 reacquire up to 2.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are often a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Transactions at Accenture

In other Accenture news, CEO Atsushi Egawa sold 4,872 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 in the company, valued at approximately $2,267,746.28. This trade represents a 27.57% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Company insiders own 0.02% of the company’s stock.

Accenture Company 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.