Hendershot Investments Inc. Has $8.35 Million Stake in Accenture PLC $ACN

Hendershot Investments Inc. increased its stake in Accenture PLC (NYSE:ACN) by 13.3% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 42,083 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 4,932 shares during the quarter. Accenture makes up 1.1% of Hendershot Investments Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 28th largest holding. Hendershot Investments Inc.’s holdings in Accenture were worth $8,345,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in ACN. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Accenture in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $2,146,995,000. Capital International Investors boosted its holdings in shares of Accenture by 41.1% during the 3rd quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 17,128,134 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $4,223,839,000 after buying an additional 4,984,930 shares during the period. Voloridge Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in Accenture in the 3rd quarter valued at $311,694,000. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its holdings in Accenture by 15.9% in the 4th quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 8,173,338 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $2,192,907,000 after acquiring an additional 1,122,855 shares during the period. Finally, Pzena Investment Management LLC lifted its position in Accenture by 84.0% during the 1st quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC now owns 2,405,683 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $477,023,000 after acquiring an additional 1,097,961 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.14% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on ACN shares. Truist Financial lowered their price target on Accenture from $210.00 to $150.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, June 22nd. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Accenture in a research report on Tuesday, June 9th. Wolfe Research restated an “outperform” rating and set a $200.00 target price on shares of Accenture in a research note on Tuesday, June 16th. Susquehanna dropped their price target on Accenture from $186.00 to $140.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, June 22nd. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group cut their price target on Accenture from $270.00 to $230.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, June 18th. Twelve investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and fifteen have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Accenture presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $195.00.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Accenture news, CEO Atsushi Egawa sold 4,872 shares of Accenture stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $177.14, for a total transaction of $863,026.08. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 12,802 shares in the company, valued at $2,267,746.28. The trade was a 27.57% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, 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.

Accenture Stock Up 0.0%

NYSE ACN opened at $137.40 on Friday. Accenture PLC has a twelve month low of $118.15 and a twelve month high of $307.77. The stock has a market cap of $91.76 billion, a PE ratio of 10.97, a PEG ratio of 1.36 and a beta of 1.13. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $164.30 and a 200 day simple moving average of $208.64. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a quick ratio of 1.34 and a current ratio of 1.34.

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

Accenture Announces Dividend

The company 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 $1.63 dividend. This represents a $6.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, July 9th. Accenture’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 52.08%.

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

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.