Accenture PLC $ACN Shares Bought by Goelzer Investment Management Inc.

Goelzer Investment Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Accenture PLC (NYSE:ACN) by 120.0% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 17,189 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 9,375 shares during the period. Goelzer Investment Management Inc.’s holdings in Accenture were worth $4,612,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in ACN. Holt Capital Advisors L.L.C. dba Holt Capital Partners L.P. increased its stake in Accenture by 0.9% during the 3rd quarter. Holt Capital Advisors L.L.C. dba Holt Capital Partners L.P. now owns 4,416 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $1,089,000 after buying an additional 41 shares during the period. SkyView Investment Advisors LLC boosted its position in Accenture by 1.2% in the 2nd quarter. SkyView Investment Advisors LLC now owns 3,751 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $1,108,000 after buying an additional 43 shares during the last quarter. Investors Research Corp grew its stake in shares of Accenture by 73.8% during the third quarter. Investors Research Corp now owns 106 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 45 shares in the last quarter. Firethorn Wealth Partners LLC increased its position in shares of Accenture by 5.1% during the fourth quarter. Firethorn Wealth Partners LLC now owns 924 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $248,000 after acquiring an additional 45 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Precedent Wealth Partners LLC lifted its stake in shares of Accenture by 0.7% in the fourth quarter. Precedent Wealth Partners LLC now owns 6,771 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $1,817,000 after acquiring an additional 46 shares in the last quarter. 75.14% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Accenture Price Performance

Shares of NYSE ACN opened at $192.60 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.34, a quick ratio of 1.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. The company has a market capitalization of $118.57 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.77, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.83 and a beta of 1.27. Accenture PLC has a twelve month low of $187.00 and a twelve month high of $325.71. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $225.44 and a 200-day simple moving average of $244.62.

Accenture (NYSE:ACN) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 19th. The information technology services provider reported $2.93 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.84 by $0.09. Accenture had a return on equity of 26.33% and a net margin of 10.61%.The firm had revenue of $18.04 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $17.80 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $2.82 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Accenture PLC will post 12.73 earnings per share for the current year.

Accenture Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, April 9th will be given a dividend of $1.63 per share. This represents a $6.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 9th. Accenture’s dividend payout ratio is currently 53.40%.

Insider Transactions at Accenture

In related news, insider Manish Sharma sold 2,731 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $288.13, for a total transaction of $786,883.03. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 7,057 shares in the company, valued at $2,033,333.41. This represents a 27.90% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, General Counsel Joel Unruch sold 1,332 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $275.00, for a total transaction of $366,300.00. Following the completion of the sale, the general counsel directly owned 28,207 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,756,925. This trade represents a 4.51% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold a total of 22,088 shares of company stock valued at $5,970,434 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.02% of the company’s stock.

Key Accenture News

Here are the key news stories impacting Accenture this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Accenture launched Cyber.AI, an AI-driven cybersecurity platform powered by Anthropic’s Claude, positioning ACN to capture enterprise spend on AI-native security operations and managed detection/response. Accenture and Anthropic Team to Help Organizations Secure, Scale AI-Driven Cybersecurity Operations
• Positive Sentiment: UBS highlighted the Accenture–Anthropic cybersecurity tie-up as supportive of ACN’s AI strategy, reinforcing analyst confidence that the new offering strengthens long-term growth potential in AI security. Accenture-Anthropic cybersecurity partnership seen strengthening AI thesis, says UBS
• Positive Sentiment: Accenture invested in and partnered with DaVinci Commerce to bring agentic AI commerce capabilities into Accenture Song, expanding addressable market in digital transactions and commerce automation. This supports the company’s push to monetize AI agents across enterprise functions. ACN Continues to Focus on AI Development: Is it a Growth Catalyst?
• Positive Sentiment: Truist reiterated a Buy and pointed to record bookings (~$22B) and better-than-expected Q2 results as signs of durable demand — a near-term fundamental positive even as costs rise. Accenture (ACN) Rated Buy on Strong Bookings Growth
• Neutral Sentiment: Analyst commentary (Zacks/Yahoo) urges retaining ACN for steady growth from AI-driven cybersecurity, cloud and public sector wins but flags margin pressures from rising costs — a mix of upside from revenue drivers and near-term margin risk. Here’s Why You Should Retain Accenture Stock in Your Portfolio Now
• Negative Sentiment: A peer-comparison piece notes SAIC currently looks stronger on valuation, backlog and recent price performance — highlighting competitive and valuation pressures that could weigh on ACN’s stock multiple. ACN vs. SAIC: Which IT Services Stock Holds an Edge at Present?
• Negative Sentiment: Technically, ACN is trading below its 50- and 200-day moving averages and volume is lighter than average — factors that can amplify downward pressure when investors rotate out after prior gains.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have weighed in on ACN. Robert W. Baird lowered their price objective on Accenture from $330.00 to $265.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, March 20th. TD Cowen decreased their price target on shares of Accenture from $282.00 to $275.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, March 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of Accenture from $243.00 to $247.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, March 20th. Citigroup reduced their price objective on shares of Accenture from $266.00 to $215.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 25th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets decreased their price objective on shares of Accenture from $300.00 to $230.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, March 20th. Eighteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and ten have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Accenture presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $274.88.

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.