Accenture PLC $ACN is Crawford Investment Counsel Inc.'s 5th Largest Position

Key Points

• Crawford Investment Counsel boosted its stake in Accenture by 28.7% in the fourth quarter, making ACN its 5th largest position. The firm now owns 495,336 shares, worth about $132.9 million.
• Several other institutional investors also increased their holdings, and hedge funds and institutions now own 75.14% of Accenture’s stock. Vanguard remains the largest holder among those mentioned.
• Analysts have turned more cautious ahead of earnings: Susquehanna and Jefferies both cut their price targets, while investors await Accenture’s fiscal third-quarter results on June 18.

Crawford Investment Counsel Inc. increased its stake in Accenture PLC (NYSE:ACN - Free Report) by 28.7% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 495,336 shares of the information technology services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 110,420 shares during the period. Accenture makes up approximately 2.2% of Crawford Investment Counsel Inc.'s investment portfolio, making the stock its 5th biggest position. Crawford Investment Counsel Inc. owned 0.08% of Accenture worth $132,899,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Weitz Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Accenture by 28.8% in the third quarter. Weitz Investment Management Inc. now owns 160,550 shares of the information technology services provider's stock valued at $39,592,000 after purchasing an additional 35,900 shares during the period. Teacher Retirement System of Texas boosted its holdings in shares of Accenture by 27.7% in the fourth quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas now owns 282,340 shares of the information technology services provider's stock valued at $75,752,000 after purchasing an additional 61,314 shares during the period. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Accenture by 197.2% in the fourth quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 141,484 shares of the information technology services provider's stock valued at $37,960,000 after purchasing an additional 93,880 shares during the period. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank boosted its holdings in shares of Accenture by 36.6% in the fourth quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 557,516 shares of the information technology services provider's stock valued at $149,582,000 after purchasing an additional 149,357 shares during the period. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Accenture by 1.3% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 66,070,930 shares of the information technology services provider's stock valued at $17,726,831,000 after purchasing an additional 854,361 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.14% of the company's stock.

More Accenture News

Here are the key news stories impacting Accenture this week:

• Negative Sentiment: Susquehanna cut its price target on Accenture to $186 from $222 and kept a neutral rating, adding to the cautious tone around the stock ahead of earnings. Susquehanna adjusts price target on Accenture
• Negative Sentiment: Jefferies also lowered its target on Accenture to $185 from $210 and maintained a hold rating, reinforcing concerns that near-term upside may be limited. Jefferies adjusts price target on Accenture
• Neutral Sentiment: Investors are waiting for Accenture’s fiscal third-quarter results on June 18, with expectations for revenue and EPS growth that could determine whether the recent weakness continues or reverses. Accenture set to report Q3 earnings
• Neutral Sentiment: Accenture is also in the spotlight after Unilever said it is scaling AI-enabled digital twins across its manufacturing network with Accenture, highlighting ongoing enterprise AI work, though the announcement is not a major immediate catalyst. Unilever scales digital twins across global manufacturing network with Accenture
• Neutral Sentiment: Accenture received an award recognizing its AI innovation across its workforce, which supports the company’s AI narrative but is unlikely to move the stock on its own. Accenture award underscores AI role

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ACN has been the topic of a number of research reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut their target price on shares of Accenture from $210.00 to $199.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, June 2nd. Weiss Ratings reiterated a "hold (c-)" rating on shares of Accenture in a research note on Tuesday, June 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on shares of Accenture from $247.00 to $201.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, June 8th. HSBC lowered their target price on Accenture from $220.00 to $210.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 14th. Finally, UBS Group reiterated a "buy" rating on shares of Accenture in a report on Tuesday. Sixteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eleven have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Accenture has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $245.85.

Insider Buying and Selling at Accenture

In other news, CEO Atsushi Egawa sold 4,872 shares of the business'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 sale, the chief executive officer owned 12,802 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,267,746.28. The trade was a 27.57% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders own 0.02% of the company's stock.

Accenture Trading Up 0.3%

NYSE ACN opened at $165.84 on Wednesday. Accenture PLC has a 52 week low of $155.82 and a 52 week high of $315.95. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $180.37 and a 200 day moving average price of $220.51. The company has a quick ratio of 1.34, a current ratio of 1.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. The firm has a market cap of $110.36 billion, a PE ratio of 13.58, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.57 and a beta of 1.08.

Accenture (NYSE:ACN - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, March 20th. The information technology services provider reported $2.93 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.84 by $0.09. Accenture had a net margin of 10.61% and a return on equity of 26.33%. The business had revenue of $18.04 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $17.80 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $2.82 earnings per share. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 7.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Accenture PLC will post 13.83 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Accenture Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 9th were issued a $1.63 dividend. This represents a $6.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, April 9th. Accenture's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 53.40%.

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.

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