18,089 Shares in Accenture PLC $ACN Bought by Evanson Financial LLC

Evanson Financial LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Accenture PLC (NYSE:ACN) during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 18,089 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $2,251,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of ACN. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Accenture during the 4th quarter valued at about $27,000. McMillan Office Inc. purchased a new stake in Accenture in the fourth quarter worth approximately $27,000. University of Texas Texas AM Investment Management Co. purchased a new stake in Accenture in the fourth quarter worth approximately $27,000. Triumph Capital Management purchased a new position in shares of Accenture during the third quarter worth approximately $26,000. Finally, Private Wealth Management Group LLC lifted 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 worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 53 shares during the last quarter. 75.14% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Accenture Trading Up 0.3%

Shares of ACN opened at $171.25 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $114.36 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.68, a PEG ratio of 1.77 and a beta of 1.09. Accenture PLC has a twelve month low of $118.15 and a twelve month high of $291.09. The company has a quick ratio of 1.34, a current ratio of 1.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $151.88 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $187.23.

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

Accenture Announces Dividend

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

Accenture declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share buyback plan on Tuesday, June 23rd that authorizes the company to buyback $2.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the information technology services provider to purchase up to 2.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are generally an indication that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently commented on ACN. Guggenheim reduced their target price on shares of Accenture from $225.00 to $185.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, June 22nd. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their price target on shares of Accenture from $270.00 to $230.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, June 18th. Argus reduced their price objective on Accenture from $335.00 to $220.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, June 22nd. Citigroup decreased their price objective on Accenture from $215.00 to $195.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, June 1st. Finally, TD Cowen cut Accenture from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and dropped their target price for the company from $258.00 to $150.00 in a report on Monday, June 22nd. Twelve research 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. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $192.96.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, General Counsel Joel Unruch sold 10,498 shares of Accenture stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 directly owned 17,735 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,890,450.30. This trade represents a 37.18% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed 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 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.