Relyea Zuckerberg Hanson LLC Decreases Stock Holdings in Accenture PLC $ACN

Relyea Zuckerberg Hanson LLC lowered its position in Accenture PLC (NYSE:ACN) by 42.2% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 5,341 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock after selling 3,902 shares during the period. Relyea Zuckerberg Hanson LLC’s holdings in Accenture were worth $1,059,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of ACN. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Accenture in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $2,146,995,000. Voloridge Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Accenture during the third quarter worth $311,694,000. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Accenture by 15.9% during 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 last quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Accenture by 84.0% in 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 purchasing an additional 1,097,961 shares in the last quarter. Finally, FIL Ltd grew its stake in Accenture by 33.5% during the 4th quarter. FIL Ltd now owns 3,921,049 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $1,052,017,000 after buying an additional 983,840 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 75.14% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

ACN has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Susquehanna decreased their price target on Accenture from $186.00 to $140.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, June 22nd. Stifel Nicolaus cut their price objective on shares of Accenture from $315.00 to $270.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, June 3rd. Wolfe Research reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $200.00 price objective on shares of Accenture in a research report on Tuesday, June 16th. BMO Capital Markets reiterated a “market perform” rating and issued a $150.00 target price on shares of Accenture in a research note on Friday, June 19th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company restated an “overweight” rating and set a $200.00 price target on shares of Accenture in a research note on Monday, June 22nd. Twelve equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fourteen have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $193.19.

Accenture Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:ACN traded down $3.87 during trading on Friday, hitting $135.19. The stock had a trading volume of 7,631,871 shares, compared to its average volume of 12,515,054. 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 12-month low of $118.15 and a 12-month high of $291.09. The stock has a market capitalization of $90.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.80, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.38 and a beta of 1.13. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $160.28 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $203.94.

Accenture (NYSE:ACN) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, June 18th. The information technology services provider reported $3.80 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $3.49 earnings per share. Accenture’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.6% on a year-over-year basis. Accenture has set its FY 2026 guidance at 13.780-13.900 EPS. On average, equities research analysts expect that Accenture PLC will post 13.85 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Accenture Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 14th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, July 9th will be paid a $1.63 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, July 9th. This represents a $6.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.8%. Accenture’s dividend payout ratio is presently 52.08%.

Accenture declared that its board has authorized a share buyback plan 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 buy up to 2.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are generally a sign that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Atsushi Egawa sold 4,872 shares of the firm’s 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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 12,802 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,267,746.28. This trade represents a 27.57% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. 0.02% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.