Financiere des Professionnels Fonds d investissement inc. Sells 69,678 Shares of Accenture PLC $ACN

Key Points

• Financiere des Professionnels sharply reduced its Accenture stake in the first quarter, selling 69,678 shares and cutting its position by 95.9% to 2,942 shares worth about $583,000.
• Accenture’s CEO, Atsushi Egawa, sold 4,872 shares in a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 transaction, reducing his ownership by 27.57%.
• Analysts have grown more cautious: several cut price targets or downgraded the stock, and the consensus rating is now Hold with an average target price of $193.19.

Financiere des Professionnels Fonds d investissement inc. trimmed its stake in Accenture PLC (NYSE:ACN - Free Report) by 95.9% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 2,942 shares of the information technology services provider's stock after selling 69,678 shares during the period. Financiere des Professionnels Fonds d investissement inc.'s holdings in Accenture were worth $583,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Brighton Jones LLC increased its position in Accenture by 36.2% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 18,438 shares of the information technology services provider's stock valued at $6,486,000 after acquiring an additional 4,905 shares during the last quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Accenture by 46.9% in the 2nd quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC now owns 2,066 shares of the information technology services provider's stock worth $618,000 after acquiring an additional 660 shares during the last quarter. United Bank boosted its stake in shares of Accenture by 49.8% during the 2nd quarter. United Bank now owns 3,639 shares of the information technology services provider's stock worth $1,088,000 after purchasing an additional 1,209 shares during the period. Bank of Nova Scotia boosted its stake in shares of Accenture by 23.0% during the 2nd quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia now owns 828 shares of the information technology services provider's stock worth $247,000 after purchasing an additional 155 shares during the period. Finally, Main Street Financial Solutions LLC raised its position in Accenture by 4.2% in the 2nd quarter. Main Street Financial Solutions LLC now owns 1,767 shares of the information technology services provider's stock worth $528,000 after purchasing an additional 72 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.14% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity at Accenture

In other news, CEO Atsushi Egawa sold 4,872 shares of the firm'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 transaction, the chief executive officer owned 12,802 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,267,746.28. This trade represents a 27.57% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Corporate insiders own 0.02% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have issued reports on ACN shares. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their price objective on shares of Accenture from $270.00 to $230.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, June 18th. Dbs Bank downgraded Accenture from a "moderate buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Tuesday, June 23rd. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price target on Accenture from $315.00 to $270.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, June 3rd. Oppenheimer set a $201.00 price objective on Accenture in a report on Monday, June 8th. Finally, Robert W. Baird set a $190.00 target price on Accenture in a research report on Thursday, June 18th. Twelve research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fourteen have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $193.19.

Accenture Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:ACN opened at $143.56 on Friday. The firm's 50 day simple moving average is $156.38 and its 200-day simple moving average is $199.36. 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 one year low of $118.15 and a one year high of $291.09. The firm has a market cap of $95.87 billion, a PE ratio of 11.47, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.50 and a beta of 1.13.

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

Accenture announced that its board has approved a stock repurchase plan on Tuesday, June 23rd that allows the company to repurchase $2.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the information technology services provider to buy up to 2.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are generally an indication that the company's board believes its stock is undervalued.

Accenture Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 14th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, July 9th will be given a dividend of $1.63 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, July 9th. This represents a $6.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.5%. Accenture's dividend payout ratio is presently 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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