Accenture PLC $ACN Shares Purchased by Acadian Asset Management LLC

Key Points

• Acadian Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in Accenture PLC by 60.7% during the first quarter, owning 103,081 shares valued at $32,157,000.
• Accenture's recent earnings report showed an **EPS of $3.49**, exceeding estimates of $3.32, and revenues of $17.73 billion, up 7.7% year-over-year.
• The company recently declared a quarterly dividend of $1.48, with an annualized yield of 2.4% and a payout ratio of 47.13%.

Acadian Asset Management LLC increased its position in shares of Accenture PLC (NYSE:ACN - Free Report) by 60.7% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 103,081 shares of the information technology services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 38,948 shares during the quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC's holdings in Accenture were worth $32,157,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Lipe & Dalton lifted its holdings in shares of Accenture by 2,087.4% during the first quarter. Lipe & Dalton now owns 5,031 shares of the information technology services provider's stock worth $1,570,000 after purchasing an additional 4,801 shares during the period. Redwood Investments LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Accenture by 6.2% during the first quarter. Redwood Investments LLC now owns 22,087 shares of the information technology services provider's stock worth $6,892,000 after purchasing an additional 1,287 shares during the period. United Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Accenture during the first quarter worth about $758,000. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Accenture by 62.2% during the first quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 905 shares of the information technology services provider's stock worth $282,000 after purchasing an additional 347 shares during the period. Finally, Ceredex Value Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Accenture during the first quarter worth about $35,934,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.14% of the company's stock.

Accenture Stock Down 3.6%

Accenture stock opened at $243.01 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $152.21 billion, a PE ratio of 19.35, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.16 and a beta of 1.29. Accenture PLC has a 12 month low of $236.67 and a 12 month high of $398.35. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $265.74 and a 200-day simple moving average of $295.32. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 1.46 and a quick ratio of 1.46.

Accenture (NYSE:ACN - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, June 20th. The information technology services provider reported $3.49 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $3.32 by $0.17. The business had revenue of $17.73 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $17.26 billion. Accenture had a return on equity of 26.55% and a net margin of 11.61%.The business's revenue was up 7.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $3.13 earnings per share. Accenture has set its Q4 2025 guidance at EPS. FY 2025 guidance at 12.770-12.890 EPS. On average, analysts anticipate that Accenture PLC will post 12.73 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Accenture Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, July 10th were given a $1.48 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, July 10th. This represents a $5.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.4%. Accenture's payout ratio is 47.13%.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Angela Beatty sold 203 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $282.34, for a total value of $57,315.02. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 5,249 shares in the company, valued at $1,482,002.66. The trade was a 3.72% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Mauro Macchi sold 500 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $282.34, for a total value of $141,170.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 2,283 shares of the company's stock, valued at $644,582.22. This trade represents a 17.97% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 2,954 shares of company stock worth $834,280 over the last three months. 0.02% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on the company. Evercore ISI assumed coverage on Accenture in a report on Thursday, July 17th. They set an "outperform" rating and a $330.00 target price for the company. Barclays reduced their price target on Accenture from $390.00 to $360.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, June 23rd. Rothschild Redb cut Accenture from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 3rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on Accenture from $334.00 to $302.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, August 20th. Finally, UBS Group reiterated a "buy" rating and set a $395.00 price target (up from $390.00) on shares of Accenture in a research report on Thursday, May 22nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have given a Buy rating, nine have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, Accenture presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $348.12.

About Accenture

Accenture plc, a professional services company, provides strategy and consulting, industry X, song, and technology and operation services worldwide. The company offers application services, including agile transformation, DevOps, application modernization, enterprise architecture, software and quality engineering, data management; intelligent automation comprising robotic process automation, natural language processing, and virtual agents; and application management services, as well as software engineering services; strategy and consulting services; data and analytics strategy, data discovery and augmentation, data management and beyond, data democratization, and industrialized solutions comprising turnkey analytics and artificial intelligence (AI) solutions; metaverse; and sustainability services.

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