Danica Pension Livsforsikringsaktieselskab Takes Position in Accenture PLC $ACN

Danica Pension Livsforsikringsaktieselskab purchased a new position in shares of Accenture PLC (NYSE:ACN) in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund purchased 58,222 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $11,545,000.

Several other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the business. Oslo Pensjonsforsikring AS bought a new position in Accenture in the first quarter valued at approximately $762,000. Summit Global Investments lifted its stake in shares of Accenture by 121.0% in the 1st quarter. Summit Global Investments now owns 8,096 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $1,605,000 after purchasing an additional 4,432 shares during the period. Johnson Financial Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Accenture by 2.4% in the 1st quarter. Johnson Financial Group Inc. now owns 20,764 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $4,117,000 after purchasing an additional 485 shares during the last quarter. Convergence Investment Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of Accenture by 1,099.4% in the 1st quarter. Convergence Investment Partners LLC now owns 10,339 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $2,050,000 after purchasing an additional 9,477 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Commerzbank Aktiengesellschaft FI grew its stake in shares of Accenture by 7.4% during the first quarter. Commerzbank Aktiengesellschaft FI now owns 62,959 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $12,484,000 after purchasing an additional 4,358 shares during the period. 75.14% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have weighed in on ACN. William Blair lowered Accenture from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, June 18th. DA Davidson decreased their target price on Accenture from $275.00 to $175.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, June 23rd. Robert W. Baird set a $190.00 price target on shares of Accenture in a research report on Thursday, June 18th. Berenberg Bank reduced their price objective on shares of Accenture from $273.00 to $220.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, June 17th. Finally, Argus decreased their price objective on shares of Accenture from $335.00 to $220.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday, June 22nd. Twelve investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fourteen have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $192.96.

Accenture Stock Performance

ACN stock opened at $141.11 on Wednesday. Accenture PLC has a 1-year low of $118.15 and a 1-year high of $291.09. 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 firm has a market cap of $94.23 billion, a PE ratio of 11.27, a P/E/G ratio of 1.50 and a beta of 1.13. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $155.25 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $197.08.

Accenture (NYSE:ACN) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, June 18th. The information technology services provider reported $3.80 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.70 by $0.10. Accenture had a return on equity of 26.47% and a net margin of 10.66%.The company had revenue of $18.72 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $18.78 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $3.49 earnings per share. The company’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, research analysts forecast that Accenture PLC will post 13.85 earnings per share 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 issued a dividend of $1.63 per share. This represents a $6.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.6%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, July 9th. Accenture’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 52.08%.

Accenture announced that its board has approved a stock 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 purchase up to 2.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are generally a sign that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Accenture news, CEO Atsushi Egawa sold 4,872 shares of Accenture stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $177.14, for a total value of $863,026.08. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 12,802 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,267,746.28. The trade was a 27.57% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. 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.