Eley Financial Management Inc Sells 8,462 Shares of Accenture PLC $ACN

Eley Financial Management Inc reduced its position in Accenture PLC (NYSE:ACN - Free Report) by 61.5% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 5,303 shares of the information technology services provider's stock after selling 8,462 shares during the period. Eley Financial Management Inc's holdings in Accenture were worth $1,051,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Accenture in the fourth quarter valued at $2,146,995,000. First Trust Advisors LP increased its position in shares of Accenture by 120.0% during the first quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 3,482,150 shares of the information technology services provider's stock worth $690,475,000 after acquiring an additional 1,899,305 shares in the last quarter. Voloridge Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Accenture in the 3rd quarter worth about $311,694,000. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Accenture by 15.9% in the 4th quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 8,173,338 shares of the information technology services provider's stock worth $2,192,907,000 after acquiring an additional 1,122,855 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Pzena Investment Management LLC lifted its position in Accenture by 84.0% in the 1st quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC now owns 2,405,683 shares of the information technology services provider's stock valued at $477,023,000 after acquiring an additional 1,097,961 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.14% of the company's stock.

Accenture Stock Performance

Shares of ACN stock opened at $163.70 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a quick ratio of 1.34 and a current ratio of 1.34. The firm has a market cap of $109.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.08, a P/E/G ratio of 1.79 and a beta of 1.13. Accenture PLC has a 52 week low of $118.15 and a 52 week high of $291.09. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $152.82 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $191.29.

Accenture (NYSE:ACN - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, June 18th. The information technology services provider reported $3.80 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.70 by $0.10. Accenture had a net margin of 10.66% and a return on equity of 26.47%. The company had revenue of $18.72 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $18.78 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $3.49 EPS. Accenture'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. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Accenture PLC will post 13.85 earnings per share for the current year.

Accenture announced that its board has initiated a stock repurchase 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 reacquire up to 2.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are typically an indication that the company's board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Accenture Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 14th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, July 9th will be issued a dividend of $1.63 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, July 9th. This represents a $6.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.0%. Accenture's dividend payout ratio is 52.08%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

ACN has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on Accenture from $200.00 to $194.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Monday, July 20th. Stifel Nicolaus cut their target price on Accenture from $315.00 to $270.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, June 3rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on Accenture from $247.00 to $201.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, June 8th. TD Cowen cut Accenture from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and dropped their price objective for the company from $258.00 to $150.00 in a research note on Monday, June 22nd. Finally, Dbs Bank lowered shares of Accenture from a "moderate buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 23rd. Twelve analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fourteen have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Accenture has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $192.96.

Accenture Company 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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