Ruane Cunniff & Goldfarb L.P. Sells 15,216 Shares of Accenture PLC $ACN

Ruane Cunniff & Goldfarb L.P. cut its holdings in shares of Accenture PLC (NYSE:ACN) by 1.6% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 928,204 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock after selling 15,216 shares during the quarter. Accenture comprises 3.1% of Ruane Cunniff & Goldfarb L.P.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 15th largest holding. Ruane Cunniff & Goldfarb L.P.’s holdings in Accenture were worth $184,054,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Empowered Funds LLC increased its stake in Accenture by 40.2% during the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 182,581 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $36,204,000 after acquiring an additional 52,358 shares during the period. Evelyn Partners Asset Management Ltd raised its stake in shares of Accenture by 1.4% in the first quarter. Evelyn Partners Asset Management Ltd now owns 24,767 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $4,911,000 after purchasing an additional 339 shares in the last quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company boosted its stake in Accenture by 24.3% during the first quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 2,384,954 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $472,913,000 after buying an additional 466,452 shares in the last quarter. IMG Wealth Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Accenture by 134.8% in the 1st quarter. IMG Wealth Management Inc. now owns 155 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $31,000 after buying an additional 89 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Excelsior Advisor Network LLC boosted its position in shares of Accenture by 2.0% during the 1st quarter. Excelsior Advisor Network LLC now owns 3,323 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $659,000 after acquiring an additional 66 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 75.14% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

ACN has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Susquehanna decreased their price objective on Accenture from $186.00 to $140.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, June 22nd. HSBC dropped their price objective on Accenture from $220.00 to $210.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 14th. William Blair cut shares of Accenture from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, June 18th. DA Davidson reduced their target price on Accenture from $275.00 to $175.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, June 23rd. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group dropped 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 analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fourteen have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $192.96.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Accenture news, CEO Atsushi Egawa sold 4,872 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $177.14, for a total transaction of $863,026.08. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 12,802 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,267,746.28. This trade 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 the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders own 0.02% of the company’s stock.

Accenture Stock Up 4.9%

Shares of NYSE ACN opened at $154.22 on Tuesday. Accenture PLC has a 1 year low of $118.15 and a 1 year high of $291.09. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $153.46 and its 200-day moving average is $193.65. The company has a current ratio of 1.34, a quick ratio of 1.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15. The firm has a market capitalization of $102.99 billion, a PE ratio of 12.32, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.52 and a beta of 1.13.

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

Accenture Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 14th. Investors of record on Thursday, July 9th will be issued a $1.63 dividend. This represents a $6.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.2%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, July 9th. Accenture’s dividend payout ratio is currently 52.08%.

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