Accenture PLC $ACN Shares Bought by Deutsche Bank AG

Deutsche Bank AG raised its stake in Accenture PLC (NYSE:ACN - Free Report) by 13.6% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 3,093,932 shares of the information technology services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 369,433 shares during the quarter. Deutsche Bank AG owned approximately 0.50% of Accenture worth $830,102,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in 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 acquiring an additional 854,361 shares during the period. State Street Corp lifted its holdings in Accenture by 0.4% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 28,135,065 shares of the information technology services provider's stock valued at $6,938,156,000 after acquiring an additional 118,460 shares during the period. Capital International Investors lifted its holdings in Accenture by 2.0% in the fourth quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 17,471,554 shares of the information technology services provider's stock valued at $4,687,867,000 after acquiring an additional 343,420 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Accenture by 1.5% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 14,656,436 shares of the information technology services provider's stock valued at $3,922,212,000 after acquiring an additional 218,719 shares during the period. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its holdings in Accenture by 5.4% in the fourth quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 10,693,994 shares of the information technology services provider's stock valued at $2,869,199,000 after acquiring an additional 546,198 shares during the period. 75.14% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at Accenture

In other Accenture news, CEO Atsushi Egawa sold 4,872 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $177.14, for a total value of $863,026.08. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 12,802 shares in the company, valued at $2,267,746.28. This represents a 27.57% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. 0.02% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Key Accenture News

Here are the key news stories impacting Accenture this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Analysts and market commentary remain constructive on Accenture’s long-term outlook, citing strong demand for cloud, cybersecurity and AI services, along with support from acquisitions and expanding client engagements. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Accenture’s launch of an AI Adoption Maturity Model with Carnegie Mellon’s SEI underscores its push to deepen enterprise AI consulting and strengthen its competitive position in AI readiness services. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Several brokers maintained bullish ratings despite trimming price targets, including JPMorgan and TD Cowen, which still see meaningful upside from current levels. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: Accenture announced the acquisition of creator marketing agency Whalar, a move that broadens its digital and marketing services footprint but also adds integration/execution risk. Article Title
• Negative Sentiment: ACN shares have been falling recently even as the broader market rose, suggesting investors are cautious about near-term momentum and possibly digesting the impact of the Whalar deal and valuation concerns. Article Title

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ACN has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Citigroup cut their price objective on Accenture from $215.00 to $195.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, June 1st. Stifel Nicolaus cut their price objective on Accenture from $315.00 to $270.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, June 3rd. Royal Bank Of Canada cut their price objective on Accenture from $295.00 to $253.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, March 20th. BMO Capital Markets cut their price objective on Accenture from $300.00 to $230.00 and set a "market perform" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, March 20th. Finally, Mizuho cut their price objective on Accenture from $309.00 to $280.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, March 23rd. Seventeen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and ten have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $260.81.

Accenture Stock Down 0.6%

Shares of NYSE:ACN opened at $173.44 on Wednesday. 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 business has a fifty day moving average of $183.47 and a two-hundred day moving average of $223.29. The stock has a market cap of $115.41 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.20, a PEG ratio of 1.65 and a beta of 1.08. Accenture PLC has a 52-week low of $155.82 and a 52-week high of $321.77.

Accenture (NYSE:ACN - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Friday, March 20th. The information technology services provider reported $2.93 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.84 by $0.09. The company had revenue of $18.04 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $17.80 billion. Accenture had a return on equity of 26.33% and a net margin of 10.61%.The firm's quarterly revenue was up 7.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $2.82 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that Accenture PLC will post 13.88 earnings per share for the current 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 issued a $1.63 dividend. This represents a $6.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.8%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, April 9th. Accenture's dividend payout ratio is presently 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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