Westerkirk Capital Inc. Buys 8,900 Shares of Accenture PLC $ACN

Westerkirk Capital Inc. raised its stake in Accenture PLC (NYSE:ACN) by 48.6% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 27,196 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 8,900 shares during the period. Westerkirk Capital Inc.’s holdings in Accenture were worth $7,297,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of ACN. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Accenture in the 4th quarter valued at $2,146,995,000. Capital International Investors boosted its holdings in Accenture by 41.1% in the 3rd quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 17,128,134 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $4,223,839,000 after purchasing an additional 4,984,930 shares during the period. Voloridge Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in Accenture in the 3rd quarter valued at $311,694,000. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted 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 valued at $2,192,907,000 after purchasing an additional 1,122,855 shares during the period. Finally, Capital World Investors bought a new stake in Accenture in the 3rd quarter valued at $268,578,000. 75.14% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Accenture Trading Down 2.2%

Shares of NYSE ACN opened at $174.42 on Tuesday. Accenture PLC has a 1-year low of $155.82 and a 1-year high of $321.77. The company has a market cap of $116.06 billion, a PE ratio of 14.28, a P/E/G ratio of 1.69 and a beta of 1.09. 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 50-day moving average of $183.86 and a two-hundred day moving average of $223.76.

Accenture (NYSE:ACN) last announced its earnings results on Friday, March 20th. The information technology services provider reported $2.93 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.84 by $0.09. Accenture had a net margin of 10.61% and a return on equity of 26.33%. The company had revenue of $18.04 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $17.80 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.82 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 7.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts expect that Accenture PLC will post 13.88 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Accenture Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 9th were paid a $1.63 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, April 9th. This represents a $6.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.7%. Accenture’s payout ratio is currently 53.40%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on ACN. BMO Capital Markets dropped their price objective on shares of Accenture from $300.00 to $230.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, March 20th. Royal Bank Of Canada dropped their price objective on shares of Accenture from $295.00 to $253.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, March 20th. TD Cowen dropped their price objective on shares of Accenture from $282.00 to $258.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday. Guggenheim dropped their price objective on shares of Accenture from $275.00 to $250.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, March 20th. Finally, Truist Financial cut shares of Accenture from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and dropped their price objective for the company from $260.00 to $210.00 in a research note on Monday, June 1st. Seventeen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and ten have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $260.81.

More Accenture News

Here are the key news stories impacting Accenture this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Accenture and Carnegie Mellon University’s Software Engineering Institute launched the AI Adoption Maturity Model, a framework and assessment tool designed to help enterprises measure AI readiness and scale deployments more predictably. The move supports Accenture’s positioning as a trusted AI consulting partner. Article title
• Positive Sentiment: Several analysts still see upside despite trimming targets: JPMorgan maintained an overweight rating with a lower target of $201, and TD Cowen kept a buy rating with a $258 target. That suggests Wall Street remains constructive on the stock’s long-term valuation. Article title Article title
• Neutral Sentiment: Accenture announced it will acquire creator marketing agency Whalar, expanding its digital and social marketing capabilities. The deal could broaden its services, but investors appear to be waiting for more detail on integration and financial impact. Article title
• Negative Sentiment: The stock fell as the broader market rose, reinforcing investor concern that Accenture may be losing momentum in the near term despite its strong balance sheet and solid AI narrative. Article title
• Negative Sentiment: Analyst target cuts from JPMorgan and TD Cowen reflect some caution around sector budgets and competitive pressure, which may be weighing on sentiment even though both firms retained bullish ratings. Article title

Insider Buying and Selling at Accenture

In other news, CEO Atsushi Egawa sold 4,872 shares of Accenture stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of 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 position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Corporate insiders own 0.02% of the company’s stock.

About Accenture

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.