Accenture PLC $ACN Shares Purchased by D.A. Davidson & CO.

D.A. Davidson & CO. raised its stake in Accenture PLC (NYSE:ACN) by 16.1% during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 305,168 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 42,349 shares during the period. D.A. Davidson & CO.’s holdings in Accenture were worth $60,512,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in ACN. Board of the Pension Protection Fund acquired a new stake in shares of Accenture in the 4th quarter valued at $27,000. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Accenture in the fourth quarter valued at $27,000. McMillan Office Inc. purchased a new position in Accenture in the fourth quarter valued at $27,000. University of Texas Texas AM Investment Management Co. acquired a new stake in Accenture in the fourth quarter valued at $27,000. Finally, Triumph Capital Management purchased a new stake in Accenture during the 3rd quarter worth about $26,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.14% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Atsushi Egawa sold 4,872 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,267,746.28. This represents a 27.57% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Corporate insiders own 0.02% of the company’s stock.

Accenture Trading Up 1.8%

ACN opened at $137.04 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.34, a current ratio of 1.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15. Accenture PLC has a 52 week low of $118.15 and a 52 week high of $291.09. The business’s 50 day moving average is $157.83 and its two-hundred day moving average is $200.65. The firm has a market cap of $91.52 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.95, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.39 and a beta of 1.13.

Accenture (NYSE:ACN) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 business had revenue of $18.72 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $18.78 billion. Accenture had a return on equity of 26.47% and a net margin of 10.66%.The company’s revenue was up 5.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior 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 predict that Accenture PLC will post 13.85 EPS for the current year.

Accenture announced that its board has authorized a share repurchase program 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 purchase up to 2.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are generally a sign that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Accenture Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed 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. This represents a $6.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, July 9th. Accenture’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 52.08%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

ACN has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Evercore set a $180.00 price objective on Accenture in a report on Thursday, June 18th. Dbs Bank downgraded Accenture from a “moderate buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, June 23rd. Berenberg Bank dropped their price target on shares of Accenture from $273.00 to $220.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, June 17th. TD Cowen downgraded shares of Accenture from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and reduced their price objective for the stock from $258.00 to $150.00 in a research report on Monday, June 22nd. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft restated a “hold” rating and issued a $136.00 target price on shares of Accenture in a report on Friday, July 10th. Twelve investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fourteen have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $193.19.

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.