Accenture PLC $ACN is Willis Investment Counsel’s 8th Largest Position

Willis Investment Counsel increased its position in shares of Accenture PLC (NYSE:ACN) by 23.0% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 142,054 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 26,528 shares during the quarter. Accenture accounts for 2.5% of Willis Investment Counsel’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 8th biggest holding. Willis Investment Counsel’s holdings in Accenture were worth $42,459,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Kelly Lawrence W & Associates Inc. CA purchased a new stake in shares of Accenture in the 1st quarter worth about $31,000. RMG Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Accenture during the second quarter worth about $33,000. WPG Advisers LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Accenture in the first quarter valued at about $42,000. Cheviot Value Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Accenture in the first quarter valued at approximately $43,000. Finally, Fiduciary Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Accenture during the 1st quarter worth approximately $45,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.14% of the company’s stock.

Accenture Stock Performance

NYSE ACN opened at $241.02 on Friday. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $244.03 and its 200 day moving average price is $271.55. The company has a current ratio of 1.42, a quick ratio of 1.42 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. Accenture PLC has a twelve month low of $229.40 and a twelve month high of $398.35. The company has a market capitalization of $158.71 billion, a PE ratio of 19.84, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.16 and a beta of 1.28.

Accenture (NYSE:ACN) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, September 25th. The information technology services provider reported $3.03 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.98 by $0.05. Accenture had a net margin of 11.02% and a return on equity of 26.45%. The company had revenue of $17.60 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $17.34 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $2.66 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 7.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Accenture has set its FY 2026 guidance at 13.190-13.570 EPS. Q1 2026 guidance at EPS. On average, research analysts predict that Accenture PLC will post 12.73 earnings per share for the current year.

Accenture Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 14th. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 10th were issued a dividend of $1.63 per share. This represents a $6.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.7%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, October 10th. This is a positive change from Accenture’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.48. Accenture’s payout ratio is currently 53.66%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Manish Sharma sold 6,902 shares of Accenture stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $250.01, for a total value of $1,725,569.02. Following the transaction, the insider owned 1,860 shares in the company, valued at approximately $465,018.60. This trade represents a 78.77% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Ryoji Sekido sold 2,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $249.47, for a total value of $623,675.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 1,390 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $346,763.30. This represents a 64.27% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 33,319 shares of company stock valued at $8,335,225. 0.02% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

ACN has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Evercore ISI set a $280.00 target price on Accenture in a research note on Thursday, September 25th. Susquehanna reduced their price objective on Accenture from $330.00 to $270.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, September 18th. Rothschild Redb lowered Accenture from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 3rd. Cowen reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Accenture in a research note on Friday, September 26th. Finally, Citigroup upgraded shares of Accenture to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, October 23rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have assigned a Buy rating, eleven have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $294.25.

Accenture Company Profile

Accenture plc, a professional services company, provides strategy and consulting, industry X, song, and technology and operation services worldwide. The company offers application services, including agile transformation, DevOps, application modernization, enterprise architecture, software and quality engineering, data management; intelligent automation comprising robotic process automation, natural language processing, and virtual agents; and application management services, as well as software engineering services; strategy and consulting services; data and analytics strategy, data discovery and augmentation, data management and beyond, data democratization, and industrialized solutions comprising turnkey analytics and artificial intelligence (AI) solutions; metaverse; and sustainability services.