Accenture PLC $ACN Shares Purchased by Eads & Heald Wealth Management

Key Points

• Eads & Heald Wealth Management increased its stake in Accenture PLC by 80.5%, acquiring 1,844 additional shares during the second quarter, bringing their total holdings to 4,135 shares valued at approximately $1,236,000.
• Accenture has received varied analyst ratings, with a consensus price target of $300.22; several firms, including Rothschild & Co and UBS Group, have recently adjusted their price targets and ratings on the stock.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $1.63, representing an increase from the previous dividend, with a yield of 2.7% and a payout ratio of 48.72%.

Eads & Heald Wealth Management boosted its position in Accenture PLC (NYSE:ACN - Free Report) by 80.5% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 4,135 shares of the information technology services provider's stock after buying an additional 1,844 shares during the period. Eads & Heald Wealth Management's holdings in Accenture were worth $1,236,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Redwood Investments LLC boosted its stake in Accenture by 6.2% in the 1st quarter. Redwood Investments LLC now owns 22,087 shares of the information technology services provider's stock worth $6,892,000 after buying an additional 1,287 shares during the last quarter. Truist Financial Corp grew its stake in shares of Accenture by 7.0% during the 2nd quarter. Truist Financial Corp now owns 436,202 shares of the information technology services provider's stock valued at $130,376,000 after buying an additional 28,685 shares during the period. Lipe & Dalton increased its holdings in shares of Accenture by 2,087.4% during the 1st quarter. Lipe & Dalton now owns 5,031 shares of the information technology services provider's stock worth $1,570,000 after buying an additional 4,801 shares during the last quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC raised its position in shares of Accenture by 40.5% in the 1st quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 98,633 shares of the information technology services provider's stock worth $30,777,000 after buying an additional 28,446 shares during the period. Finally, Park National Corp OH boosted its holdings in Accenture by 4.3% in the second quarter. Park National Corp OH now owns 129,667 shares of the information technology services provider's stock valued at $38,756,000 after acquiring an additional 5,388 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.14% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have recently commented on ACN. Rothschild & Co Redburn raised their price objective on Accenture from $250.00 to $255.00 in a report on Friday, September 19th. UBS Group cut their price target on shares of Accenture from $363.00 to $315.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, September 24th. Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a "hold" rating on shares of Accenture in a research note on Tuesday, September 30th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Accenture from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday. Finally, Evercore ISI set a $280.00 target price on shares of Accenture in a report on Thursday, September 25th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have issued a Buy rating, ten have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Accenture currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $300.22.

Accenture Price Performance

Shares of ACN stock opened at $245.39 on Monday. Accenture PLC has a twelve month low of $229.40 and a twelve month high of $398.35. The company has a market capitalization of $153.69 billion, a PE ratio of 20.20, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.14 and a beta of 1.28. The company has a current ratio of 1.42, a quick ratio of 1.46 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $249.57 and a 200-day simple moving average of $283.24.

Accenture (NYSE:ACN - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, September 25th. The information technology services provider reported $3.03 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.98 by $0.05. Accenture had a net margin of 11.02% and a return on equity of 26.45%. The company had revenue of $17.60 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $17.34 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $2.66 EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 7.3% on a year-over-year basis. Accenture has set its FY 2026 guidance at 13.190-13.570 EPS. Q1 2026 guidance at EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that Accenture PLC will post 12.73 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Accenture Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 14th. Investors of record on Friday, October 10th will be issued a $1.63 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 10th. This is an increase from Accenture's previous quarterly dividend of $1.48. This represents a $6.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.7%. Accenture's dividend payout ratio is currently 48.72%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Angela Beatty sold 203 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Friday, July 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $282.34, for a total transaction of $57,315.02. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 5,249 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,482,002.66. This trade represents a 3.72% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Julie Spellman Sweet sold 2,251 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $282.45, for a total transaction of $635,794.95. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 8,109 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,290,387.05. This represents a 21.73% 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 ninety days. Company insiders own 0.02% of the company's stock.

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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