ACR Alpine Capital Research LLC Makes New $3.12 Million Investment in Accenture PLC $ACN

Key Points

• ACR Alpine Capital Research opened a $3.12 million position in Accenture, buying 17,000 shares in the third quarter; institutional investors and hedge funds hold 75.14% of the stock.
• Accenture beat quarterly earnings and revenue estimates, reporting EPS of $3.29 and revenue of $18.68 billion. Revenue rose 6.2% year over year, and the company issued FY2027 EPS guidance of $14.39–$14.81.
• Accenture raised its quarterly dividend from $1.63 to $1.71 per share, equivalent to an annualized $6.84 and a 2.6% yield. Executives also reported stock sales, including CEO Atsushi Egawa’s 10,000-share sale under a pre-arranged trading plan.

ACR Alpine Capital Research LLC acquired a new position in shares of Accenture PLC (NYSE:ACN - Free Report) in the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 17,000 shares of the information technology services provider's stock, valued at approximately $3,117,000.

Several other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in ACN. Patrick M Sweeney & Associates Inc. grew its stake in shares of Accenture by 2.0% in the 3rd quarter. Patrick M Sweeney & Associates Inc. now owns 2,249 shares of the information technology services provider's stock valued at $412,000 after purchasing an additional 45 shares during the period. Alpine Bank Wealth Management raised its holdings in shares of Accenture by 18.3% in the third quarter. Alpine Bank Wealth Management now owns 323 shares of the information technology services provider's stock valued at $59,000 after buying an additional 50 shares during the last quarter. Alliance Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its position in Accenture by 2.9% during the 3rd quarter. Alliance Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,819 shares of the information technology services provider's stock worth $334,000 after buying an additional 51 shares in the last quarter. Hibernia Wealth Partners LLC grew its holdings in Accenture by 4.5% during the 1st quarter. Hibernia Wealth Partners LLC now owns 1,354 shares of the information technology services provider's stock worth $269,000 after acquiring an additional 58 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Signature Equity Partners LLC increased its position in Accenture by 50.9% in the 3rd quarter. Signature Equity Partners LLC now owns 172 shares of the information technology services provider's stock valued at $32,000 after acquiring an additional 58 shares in the last quarter. 75.14% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Accenture Stock Up 0.7%

Shares of ACN stock opened at $266.18 on Friday. Accenture PLC has a 12-month low of $118.15 and a 12-month high of $291.09. The company has a quick ratio of 1.43, a current ratio of 1.43 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $208.88 and a 200-day moving average of $191.97. The company has a market capitalization of $157.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.63, a P/E/G ratio of 2.03 and a beta of 1.01.

Accenture (NYSE:ACN - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 1st. The information technology services provider reported $3.29 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.18 by $0.11. The business had revenue of $18.68 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $18.03 billion. Accenture had a net margin of 11.28% and a return on equity of 26.53%. The firm's revenue was up 6.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $3.03 EPS. Accenture has set its FY 2027 guidance at 14.390-14.810 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Accenture PLC will post 14.68 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Accenture Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 13th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, October 13th will be given a dividend of $1.71 per share. This is an increase from Accenture's previous quarterly dividend of $1.63. This represents a $6.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, October 13th. Accenture's payout ratio is currently 50.44%.

Insider Activity at Accenture

In related news, CEO Atsushi Egawa sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $270.00, for a total transaction of $2,700,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 5,996 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,618,920. This trade represents a 62.52% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CAO Melissa Burgum sold 811 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, October 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $250.00, for a total value of $202,750.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer owned 9,820 shares in the company, valued at $2,455,000. The trade was a 7.63% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold 18,675 shares of company stock valued at $4,747,563 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.02% of the company's stock.

Key Stories Impacting Accenture

Here are the key news stories impacting Accenture this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Accenture and Mondelēz International are partnering to redesign Mondelēz’s global order-to-cash process with agentic AI. The work will target ordering, invoicing and collections, with potential to improve working-capital management and cash-application accuracy. The announcement provides a customer example of Accenture’s AI services, though no contract value or expected revenue was disclosed. Accenture expands AI work with a major consumer goods customer
• Positive Sentiment: Recent coverage points to Accenture’s strong relative performance following solid quarterly results; analysts have also raised price targets. This supports the positive momentum narrative, although one reported target of $252 is below the level reflected in the supplied trading background. Analysts lift Accenture’s price targets
• Neutral Sentiment: CEO Atsushi Egawa sold 10,000 shares for $2.7 million, reducing his holdings by about 62.5%. The sale was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 plan, which makes it less clearly a signal about the company’s near-term outlook. SEC insider transaction filing

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ACN has been the topic of several research reports. Royal Bank Of Canada upped their price target on Accenture from $175.00 to $240.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, October 2nd. Wolfe Research upped their target price on shares of Accenture from $165.00 to $215.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 25th. Citigroup raised their target price on shares of Accenture from $135.00 to $190.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Monday, August 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of Accenture from $179.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, September 25th. Finally, Weiss Ratings raised shares of Accenture from a "sell (d+)" rating to a "hold (c-)" rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 21st. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seventeen have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $221.07.

Accenture Company Profile

Accenture plc is a global professional services company that helps organizations transform their businesses through consulting, technology and managed services. Its work spans strategy and consulting, technology implementation, operations, and interactive customer experiences.

The company provides services in areas including cloud computing, artificial intelligence, cybersecurity, data and analytics, digital engineering, enterprise software, systems integration and business process outsourcing.

Want to see what other hedge funds are holding ACN? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Accenture PLC (NYSE:ACN - Free Report).

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.