Accenture PLC $ACN Stock: Kestra Investment Management LLC Increases Holdings

Kestra Investment Management LLC raised its position in Accenture PLC (NYSE:ACN) by 20.5% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 12,416 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock after buying an additional 2,110 shares during the quarter. Kestra Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Accenture were worth $2,277,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Euro Pacific Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in Accenture by 11.2% during the third quarter. Euro Pacific Asset Management LLC now owns 117,589 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $21,562,000 after purchasing an additional 11,873 shares during the last quarter. Regent Peak Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Accenture by 10.4% in the 2nd quarter. Regent Peak Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 74,187 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $9,232,000 after purchasing an additional 7,018 shares during the last quarter. Carnegie Investment Counsel increased its stake in shares of Accenture by 63.5% in the 3rd quarter. Carnegie Investment Counsel now owns 26,565 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $4,871,000 after purchasing an additional 10,322 shares during the last quarter. Dynamic Advisor Solutions LLC raised its holdings in shares of Accenture by 72.4% during the 2nd quarter. Dynamic Advisor Solutions LLC now owns 19,455 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $2,421,000 after buying an additional 8,169 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Dearborn Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Accenture during the 2nd quarter worth $25,108,000. 75.14% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts recently weighed in on ACN shares. Citigroup upped their price objective on Accenture from $135.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, August 24th. Wolfe Research lifted their target price on Accenture from $165.00 to $215.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 25th. Jefferies Financial Group set a $220.00 target price on Accenture in a research note on Friday, October 2nd. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their target price on shares of Accenture from $230.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 1st. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their price target on shares of Accenture from $175.00 to $195.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, October 2nd. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seventeen have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $221.07.

Accenture Stock Performance

Shares of ACN stock opened at $254.34 on Tuesday. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $211.64 and its 200-day moving average price is $191.77. Accenture PLC has a 12 month low of $118.15 and a 12 month high of $291.09. The firm has a market capitalization of $150.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.76, a PEG ratio of 2.03 and a beta of 1.01. The company has a current ratio of 1.43, a quick ratio of 1.43 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31.

Accenture (NYSE:ACN) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 1st. The information technology services provider reported $3.29 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.18 by $0.11. Accenture had a return on equity of 26.53% and a net margin of 11.28%. The company had revenue of $18.68 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $18.03 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $3.03 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 6.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Accenture has set its FY 2027 guidance at 14.390-14.810 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that Accenture PLC will post 14.68 EPS for the current year.

Accenture Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 13th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, October 13th will be issued a dividend of $1.71 per share. This represents a $6.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, October 13th. This is a positive change from Accenture’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.63. Accenture’s payout ratio is presently 50.44%.

Insider Transactions at Accenture

In other Accenture news, CEO Julie Sweet purchased 12,200 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 26th. The shares were bought at an average price of $245.99 per share, for a total transaction of $3,001,078.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the chief executive officer owned 48,910 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,031,370.90. This trade represents a 33.23% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Atsushi Egawa sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $270.00, for a total transaction of $2,700,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 5,996 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,618,920. This represents a 62.52% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 18,675 shares of company stock worth $4,747,563. 0.02% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Accenture Profile

Accenture plc is a global professional services company that helps businesses, governments and other organizations solve operational and technology challenges. Its work includes strategy and management consulting, digital transformation, systems integration and the design, implementation and management of technology solutions.

The company serves clients across a broad range of industries and geographies. Its services span cloud computing, data and artificial intelligence, cybersecurity, software and platforms, business process operations, and digital marketing and customer experience.

Accenture traces its roots to the consulting business of accounting firm Arthur Andersen.