KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS Raises Holdings in Accenture PLC $ACN

Key Points

• KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS increased its holdings in Accenture PLC by 3.2%, purchasing an additional 7,800 shares, bringing its total to 248,806 shares valued at approximately $74.37 million.
• Accenture recently reported a quarterly earnings per share (EPS) of $3.03, exceeding expectations, and its revenue of $17.60 billion represents a 7.3% year-over-year increase.
• The company's quarterly dividend was increased to $1.63 per share, reflecting a positive change and resulting in an annualized yield of 2.6%.

KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS boosted its holdings in shares of Accenture PLC (NYSE:ACN - Free Report) by 3.2% during the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 248,806 shares of the information technology services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 7,800 shares during the quarter. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS's holdings in Accenture were worth $74,366,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Kelly Lawrence W & Associates Inc. CA purchased a new position in Accenture during the first quarter worth approximately $31,000. Inlight Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Accenture during the first quarter worth approximately $32,000. RMG Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Accenture during the second quarter worth approximately $33,000. WPG Advisers LLC purchased a new position in Accenture during the first quarter worth approximately $42,000. Finally, Atwood & Palmer Inc. boosted its position in Accenture by 407.4% during the first quarter. Atwood & Palmer Inc. now owns 137 shares of the information technology services provider's stock worth $43,000 after purchasing an additional 110 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.14% of the company's stock.

Accenture Stock Performance

Shares of Accenture stock opened at $248.18 on Tuesday. Accenture PLC has a one year low of $229.40 and a one year high of $398.35. The company has a market cap of $155.44 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.43, a PEG ratio of 2.14 and a beta of 1.28. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a quick ratio of 1.46 and a current ratio of 1.42. The business's 50 day moving average price is $248.99 and its 200 day moving average price is $282.84.

Accenture (NYSE:ACN - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, September 25th. The information technology services provider reported $3.03 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.98 by $0.05. Accenture had a return on equity of 26.45% and a net margin of 11.02%.The firm had revenue of $17.60 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $17.34 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $2.66 earnings per share. The firm's revenue was up 7.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Accenture has set its FY 2026 guidance at 13.190-13.570 EPS. Q1 2026 guidance at EPS. On average, research analysts predict that Accenture PLC will post 12.73 EPS for the current year.

Accenture Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 14th. Investors of record on Friday, October 10th will be given a dividend of $1.63 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, October 10th. This is a positive change from Accenture's previous quarterly dividend of $1.48. This represents a $6.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.6%. Accenture's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 48.72%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on ACN shares. Cowen reiterated a "buy" rating on shares of Accenture in a research report on Friday, September 26th. Susquehanna decreased their target price on Accenture from $330.00 to $270.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, September 18th. Wolfe Research decreased their target price on Accenture from $290.00 to $285.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, September 23rd. Robert W. Baird decreased their target price on Accenture from $350.00 to $330.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, September 26th. Finally, TD Cowen decreased their target price on Accenture from $313.00 to $295.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, September 26th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have assigned a Buy rating, ten have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Accenture currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $300.22.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Accenture news, CEO Mauro Macchi sold 500 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Friday, July 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $282.34, for a total transaction of $141,170.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 2,283 shares of the company's stock, valued at $644,582.22. This trade represents a 17.97% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Julie Spellman Sweet sold 2,251 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Friday, July 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $282.45, for a total value of $635,794.95. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 8,109 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,290,387.05. This trade represents a 21.73% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 2,954 shares of company stock worth $834,280. 0.02% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.

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