Naples Global Advisors LLC Grows Stock Position in Accenture PLC $ACN

Key Points

• Naples Global Advisors LLC increased its stake in Accenture PLC by 5.9% during Q2, bringing its total holdings to 29,362 shares valued at approximately $8.8 million.
• Accenture's earnings for the quarter surpassed expectations, reporting $3.03 EPS against a consensus of $2.98, along with revenues hitting $17.60 billion, above the projected $17.34 billion.
• The company recently declared a new quarterly dividend of $1.63 per share, up from $1.48, with a dividend yield of 2.7% and a payout ratio of 48.72%.

Naples Global Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Accenture PLC (NYSE:ACN - Free Report) by 5.9% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 29,362 shares of the information technology services provider's stock after buying an additional 1,635 shares during the quarter. Accenture comprises 0.8% of Naples Global Advisors LLC's holdings, making the stock its 26th largest position. Naples Global Advisors LLC's holdings in Accenture were worth $8,776,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Kelly Lawrence W & Associates Inc. CA purchased a new position in Accenture during the 1st quarter worth approximately $31,000. Inlight Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Accenture during the first quarter worth about $32,000. WPG Advisers LLC acquired a new stake in Accenture during the first quarter worth about $42,000. Atwood & Palmer Inc. grew its holdings in Accenture by 407.4% in the first quarter. Atwood & Palmer Inc. now owns 137 shares of the information technology services provider's stock valued at $43,000 after purchasing an additional 110 shares during the period. Finally, Cheviot Value Management LLC acquired a new stake in Accenture in the first quarter valued at approximately $43,000. 75.14% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Accenture Trading Down 1.3%

Shares of NYSE ACN opened at $243.50 on Thursday. Accenture PLC has a twelve month low of $229.40 and a twelve month high of $398.35. The stock has a market capitalization of $152.51 billion, a PE ratio of 20.04, a PEG ratio of 2.15 and a beta of 1.28. The company has a current ratio of 1.42, a quick ratio of 1.46 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $251.06 and a 200-day simple moving average of $284.75.

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

Accenture Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 14th. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 10th will be issued a dividend of $1.63 per share. This is a positive change from Accenture's previous quarterly dividend of $1.48. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 10th. This represents a $6.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.7%. Accenture's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 48.72%.

Insider Activity

In other Accenture news, CEO Julie Spellman Sweet sold 2,251 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $282.45, for a total transaction of $635,794.95. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 8,109 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,290,387.05. This represents a 21.73% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Angela Beatty sold 203 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $282.34, for a total value of $57,315.02. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 5,249 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,482,002.66. This represents a 3.72% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 2,954 shares of company stock valued at $834,280. Insiders own 0.02% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have commented on the company. Robert W. Baird dropped their price objective on Accenture from $350.00 to $330.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, September 26th. Evercore ISI set a $280.00 target price on Accenture in a research report on Thursday, September 25th. 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. 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. Finally, BNP Paribas Exane reduced their price objective on Accenture from $300.00 to $255.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, September 24th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have assigned a Buy rating, nine have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $300.22.

Accenture Company Profile

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.

Want to see what other hedge funds are holding ACN? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Accenture PLC (NYSE:ACN - Free Report).

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest and most accurate reporting. This story was reviewed by MarketBeat's editorial team prior to publication. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.