Ancora Advisors LLC Acquires 2,347 Shares of Accenture PLC $ACN

Key Points

• Ancora Advisors LLC increased its position in Accenture PLC by 2.3%, owning 106,079 shares worth approximately $33.1 million as of its latest SEC filing.
• Accenture reported a quarterly EPS of $3.49, exceeding analysts' estimates, with revenue of $17.73 billion, reflecting a year-over-year increase of 7.7%.
• The company has a dividend yield of 2.3%, with a quarterly dividend of $1.48 per share, reflecting a payout ratio of 47.13%.

Ancora Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Accenture PLC (NYSE:ACN - Free Report) by 2.3% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 106,079 shares of the information technology services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 2,347 shares during the quarter. Accenture accounts for about 0.7% of Ancora Advisors LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 29th largest holding. Ancora Advisors LLC's holdings in Accenture were worth $33,101,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Visionary Wealth Advisors boosted its stake in shares of Accenture by 3.5% during the fourth quarter. Visionary Wealth Advisors now owns 778 shares of the information technology services provider's stock valued at $274,000 after purchasing an additional 26 shares during the period. Vivaldi Capital Management LP raised its stake in shares of Accenture by 3.6% during the fourth quarter. Vivaldi Capital Management LP now owns 782 shares of the information technology services provider's stock valued at $292,000 after acquiring an additional 27 shares during the last quarter. Sentinus LLC raised its stake in shares of Accenture by 4.2% during the fourth quarter. Sentinus LLC now owns 763 shares of the information technology services provider's stock valued at $268,000 after acquiring an additional 31 shares during the last quarter. Stonebrook Private Inc. raised its stake in shares of Accenture by 3.1% during the fourth quarter. Stonebrook Private Inc. now owns 1,103 shares of the information technology services provider's stock valued at $388,000 after acquiring an additional 33 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Viawealth LLC raised its stake in shares of Accenture by 2.6% during the first quarter. Viawealth LLC now owns 1,307 shares of the information technology services provider's stock valued at $408,000 after acquiring an additional 33 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.14% of the company's stock.

Accenture Stock Performance

ACN traded up $1.65 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $254.59. 4,235,857 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,641,824. The company has a quick ratio of 1.46, a current ratio of 1.46 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. The firm has a market capitalization of $159.45 billion, a PE ratio of 20.27, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.19 and a beta of 1.29. The company's 50-day moving average is $268.80 and its 200 day moving average is $297.37. Accenture PLC has a 52 week low of $236.67 and a 52 week high of $398.35.

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

Accenture Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, July 10th were paid a dividend of $1.48 per share. This represents a $5.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.3%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, July 10th. Accenture's payout ratio is currently 47.13%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Accenture

In other news, insider Angela Beatty sold 203 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $282.34, for a total value of $57,315.02. Following the transaction, the insider owned 5,249 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,482,002.66. This trade represents 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 hyperlink. Also, CEO Mauro Macchi sold 500 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $282.34, for a total value of $141,170.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 2,283 shares in the company, valued at $644,582.22. This trade represents a 17.97% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 2,954 shares of company stock worth $834,280 in the last three months. 0.02% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

ACN has been the topic of a number of research reports. Benchmark reaffirmed a "mixed" rating on shares of Accenture in a research note on Friday, June 20th. Argus set a $370.00 price target on shares of Accenture in a research note on Tuesday, June 24th. Rothschild & Co Redburn lowered shares of Accenture from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $250.00 price target for the company. in a research note on Wednesday. Hsbc Global Res upgraded shares of Accenture to a "moderate sell" rating in a research note on Monday, July 28th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on shares of Accenture from $334.00 to $302.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, August 20th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have issued a Buy rating, nine have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $353.76.

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.