Boston Trust Walden Corp Sells 19,742 Shares of Accenture PLC $ACN

Key Points

• Boston Trust Walden Corp trimmed its Accenture stake by 4.7% in the first quarter, selling 19,742 shares and leaving it with 401,133 shares valued at about $79.5 million.
• Accenture CEO Atsushi Egawa sold 4,872 shares in a pre-arranged transaction, worth about $863,026, reducing his position by 27.57%.
• The company reported better-than-expected quarterly EPS of $3.80, approved a $2 billion share buyback, and declared a quarterly dividend of $1.63 per share, implying a 4.7% annualized yield.

Boston Trust Walden Corp lessened its stake in shares of Accenture PLC (NYSE:ACN - Free Report) by 4.7% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 401,133 shares of the information technology services provider's stock after selling 19,742 shares during the quarter. Boston Trust Walden Corp owned about 0.06% of Accenture worth $79,541,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Triumph Capital Management purchased a new position in shares of Accenture in the 3rd quarter worth $26,000. Board of the Pension Protection Fund purchased a new stake in Accenture during the fourth quarter valued at $27,000. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Accenture during the fourth quarter valued at $27,000. McMillan Office Inc. bought a new position in Accenture in the fourth quarter valued at about $27,000. Finally, University of Texas Texas AM Investment Management Co. purchased a new position in Accenture in the fourth quarter worth about $27,000. 75.14% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Accenture news, CEO Atsushi Egawa sold 4,872 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $177.14, for a total transaction of $863,026.08. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 12,802 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,267,746.28. This represents a 27.57% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at 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.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on ACN shares. Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on shares of Accenture from $177.00 to $130.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, June 22nd. Guggenheim cut their target price on shares of Accenture from $225.00 to $185.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, June 22nd. Truist Financial reduced their target price on shares of Accenture from $210.00 to $150.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a report on Monday, June 22nd. Evercore set a $180.00 price target on shares of Accenture in a research note on Thursday, June 18th. Finally, Berenberg Bank cut their price objective on shares of Accenture from $273.00 to $220.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, June 17th. Twelve research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and fifteen have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $195.00.

Accenture Stock Performance

NYSE:ACN opened at $137.40 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $165.36 and a 200 day moving average price of $209.14. The stock has a market capitalization of $91.76 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.97, a P/E/G ratio of 1.30 and a beta of 1.14. Accenture PLC has a 12-month low of $118.15 and a 12-month high of $307.77. The company has a current ratio of 1.34, a quick ratio of 1.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15.

Accenture (NYSE:ACN - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, June 18th. The information technology services provider reported $3.80 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.70 by $0.10. The business had revenue of $18.72 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $18.78 billion. Accenture had a return on equity of 26.47% and a net margin of 10.66%.The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 5.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $3.49 EPS. Accenture has set its FY 2026 guidance at 13.780-13.900 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that Accenture PLC will post 13.85 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Accenture declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share repurchase plan on Tuesday, June 23rd that permits the company to buyback $2.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the information technology services provider to repurchase up to 2.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are typically an indication that the company's management believes its shares are undervalued.

Accenture Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 14th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, July 9th will be issued a $1.63 dividend. This represents a $6.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.7%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, July 9th. Accenture's payout ratio is currently 52.08%.

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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