Diversify Wealth Management LLC Reduces Stock Holdings in Accenture PLC $ACN

Diversify Wealth Management LLC reduced its position in shares of Accenture PLC (NYSE:ACN - Free Report) by 52.5% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 8,085 shares of the information technology services provider's stock after selling 8,922 shares during the period. Diversify Wealth Management LLC's holdings in Accenture were worth $1,603,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of ACN. Triumph Capital Management purchased a new stake in shares of Accenture during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Board of the Pension Protection Fund purchased a new position in Accenture in the fourth quarter worth approximately $27,000. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Accenture during the fourth quarter worth $27,000. McMillan Office Inc. purchased a new stake in Accenture in the fourth quarter valued at $27,000. Finally, University of Texas Texas AM Investment Management Co. acquired a new position in shares of Accenture in the 4th quarter valued at $27,000. 75.14% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Accenture Stock Down 2.7%

Shares of ACN opened at $134.71 on Wednesday. The company's 50-day simple moving average is $158.58 and its 200-day simple moving average is $201.58. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a quick ratio of 1.34 and a current ratio of 1.34. Accenture PLC has a 1 year low of $118.15 and a 1 year high of $291.09. The stock has a market capitalization of $89.96 billion, a PE ratio of 10.76, a P/E/G ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 1.13.

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

Accenture Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 14th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, July 9th will be paid a $1.63 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, July 9th. This represents a $6.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.8%. Accenture's payout ratio is 52.08%.

Accenture announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock buyback program on Tuesday, June 23rd that authorizes the company to buyback $2.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the information technology services provider to buy up to 2.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are often an indication that the company's board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently issued reports on ACN shares. Berenberg Bank cut their price objective on Accenture from $273.00 to $220.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, June 17th. William Blair cut shares of Accenture from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating in a research report on Thursday, June 18th. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their target price on shares of Accenture from $210.00 to $185.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, June 15th. Argus reduced their price target on shares of Accenture from $335.00 to $220.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, June 22nd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on shares of Accenture from $247.00 to $201.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, June 8th. Twelve analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fourteen have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Accenture currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $193.19.

Insider Buying and Selling at Accenture

In other news, CEO Atsushi Egawa sold 4,872 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $177.14, for a total transaction of $863,026.08. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 12,802 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,267,746.28. This represents a 27.57% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Corporate insiders own 0.02% of the company's stock.

Accenture Profile

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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