Evanson Financial LLC Acquires Shares of 18,089 Accenture PLC $ACN

Evanson Financial LLC bought a new stake in shares of Accenture PLC (NYSE:ACN) in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm bought 18,089 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $2,251,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Triumph Capital Management bought a new position in shares of Accenture during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Accenture in the 4th quarter worth approximately $27,000. Dogwood Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in Accenture by 147.1% in the second quarter. Dogwood Wealth Management LLC now owns 215 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 128 shares during the last quarter. McMillan Office Inc. bought a new position in Accenture during the fourth quarter valued at $27,000. Finally, University of Texas Texas AM Investment Management Co. purchased a new stake in Accenture in the fourth quarter worth $27,000. 75.14% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Accenture news, General Counsel Joel Unruch sold 10,498 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $162.98, for a total value of $1,710,964.04. Following the sale, the general counsel owned 17,735 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,890,450.30. This trade represents a 37.18% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. 0.02% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently commented on ACN. William Blair cut Accenture from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, June 18th. UBS Group restated a “buy” rating and issued a $275.00 price objective on shares of Accenture in a research note on Wednesday, July 8th. Royal Bank Of Canada cut their target price on shares of Accenture from $253.00 to $175.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, June 22nd. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price target on shares of Accenture from $315.00 to $270.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, June 3rd. Finally, Robert W. Baird set a $190.00 price target on shares of Accenture in a research note on Thursday, June 18th. Twelve research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fourteen have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $192.96.

Accenture Trading Up 0.3%

Shares of Accenture stock opened at $171.25 on Friday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $151.88 and its 200-day moving average price is $187.23. 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 PLC has a 12-month low of $118.15 and a 12-month high of $291.09. The company has a market cap of $114.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.68, a PEG ratio of 1.77 and a beta of 1.09.

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, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.70 by $0.10. Accenture had a net margin of 10.66% and a return on equity of 26.47%. The business had revenue of $18.72 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $18.78 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $3.49 EPS. Accenture’s revenue was up 5.6% on a year-over-year basis. Accenture has set its FY 2026 guidance at 13.780-13.900 EPS. On average, equities analysts expect that Accenture PLC will post 13.85 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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

Accenture Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 14th. Investors of record on Thursday, July 9th will be given a dividend of $1.63 per share. This represents a $6.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.8%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, July 9th. Accenture’s payout ratio is presently 52.08%.

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.