Accenture PLC $ACN Stock Position Raised by First Trust Advisors LP

First Trust Advisors LP boosted its position in shares of Accenture PLC (NYSE:ACN) by 120.0% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 3,482,150 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,899,305 shares during the period. Accenture accounts for 0.5% of First Trust Advisors LP’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 27th biggest holding. First Trust Advisors LP owned 0.52% of Accenture worth $690,475,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Triumph Capital Management acquired a new position in Accenture during the third quarter valued at $26,000. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Accenture during the 4th quarter worth about $27,000. McMillan Office Inc. acquired a new stake in Accenture during the 4th quarter worth about $27,000. University of Texas Texas AM Investment Management Co. purchased a new position in Accenture during the 4th quarter valued at about $27,000. Finally, Private Wealth Management Group LLC increased its holdings in shares of Accenture by 96.4% in the 4th quarter. Private Wealth Management Group LLC now owns 108 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 53 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.14% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have weighed in on ACN. Oppenheimer set a $201.00 price objective on shares of Accenture in a research note on Monday, June 8th. Evercore set a $180.00 price target on shares of Accenture in a report on Thursday, June 18th. Wolfe Research reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $200.00 price target on shares of Accenture in a research note on Tuesday, June 16th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on Accenture from $200.00 to $194.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday. Finally, William Blair lowered Accenture from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, June 18th. Twelve research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fourteen have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Accenture has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $192.96.

Insider Activity at Accenture

In other news, CEO Atsushi Egawa sold 4,872 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 completion of 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 ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, 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.

Accenture Stock Down 2.5%

ACN stock opened at $141.11 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $94.23 billion, a PE ratio of 11.27, a PEG ratio of 1.50 and a beta of 1.13. Accenture PLC has a 1 year low of $118.15 and a 1 year high of $291.09. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $155.25 and a 200 day simple moving average of $197.08. The company has a current ratio of 1.34, a quick ratio of 1.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15.

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

Accenture Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared 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 of Directors has initiated a stock buyback plan on Tuesday, June 23rd that allows the company to repurchase $2.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the information technology services provider to purchase up to 2.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are typically an indication that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

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.