Sanctuary Advisors LLC Sells 31,793 Shares of Accenture PLC $ACN

Key Points

• Sanctuary Advisors LLC reduced its Accenture stake by 33.8% in the first quarter, selling 31,793 shares and leaving it with 62,193 shares valued at about $12.33 million.
• Accenture reported quarterly EPS of $3.80, topping estimates, while revenue came in at $18.72 billion, slightly below expectations. The company also raised its FY 2026 guidance to 13.780-13.900 EPS.
• The company authorized a $2.0 billion share buyback and announced a quarterly dividend of $1.63 per share, implying a 4.5% yield. Wall Street’s consensus rating remains Hold with an average price target of $193.19.

Sanctuary Advisors LLC trimmed its position in Accenture PLC (NYSE:ACN - Free Report) by 33.8% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 62,193 shares of the information technology services provider's stock after selling 31,793 shares during the period. Sanctuary Advisors LLC's holdings in Accenture were worth $12,332,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Teacher Retirement System of Texas grew its stake in Accenture by 27.7% in the 4th quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas now owns 282,340 shares of the information technology services provider's stock worth $75,752,000 after buying an additional 61,314 shares in the last quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Accenture by 197.2% during the 4th quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 141,484 shares of the information technology services provider's stock worth $37,960,000 after acquiring an additional 93,880 shares during the last quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank grew its position in Accenture by 36.6% in the fourth quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 557,516 shares of the information technology services provider's stock worth $149,582,000 after acquiring an additional 149,357 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in Accenture by 1.3% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 66,070,930 shares of the information technology services provider's stock valued at $17,726,831,000 after acquiring an additional 854,361 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Swiss Life Asset Management Ltd raised its position in Accenture by 12.0% during the fourth quarter. Swiss Life Asset Management Ltd now owns 335,314 shares of the information technology services provider's stock valued at $89,965,000 after purchasing an additional 36,037 shares in the last quarter. 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 dated Thursday, April 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $177.14, for a total value of $863,026.08. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 12,802 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,267,746.28. This trade represents a 27.57% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible 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 Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:ACN opened at $144.68 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.34, a quick ratio of 1.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $157.11 and a 200-day moving average price of $199.76. The company has a market cap of $96.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.56, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.13. Accenture PLC has a 12 month low of $118.15 and a 12 month high of $291.09.

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 company had revenue of $18.72 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $18.78 billion. Accenture had a return on equity of 26.47% and a net margin of 10.66%.Accenture's revenue was up 5.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $3.49 EPS. Accenture has set its FY 2026 guidance at 13.780-13.900 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Accenture PLC will post 13.85 EPS for the current year.

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

Accenture Announces Dividend

The business 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 $1.63 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, July 9th. This represents a $6.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.5%. Accenture's dividend payout ratio is 52.08%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on ACN shares. Jefferies Financial Group cut their price objective on Accenture from $210.00 to $185.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a report on Monday, June 15th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on Accenture from $247.00 to $201.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, June 8th. Berenberg Bank reduced their price target on shares of Accenture from $273.00 to $220.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, June 17th. William Blair downgraded shares of Accenture from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating in a research note on Thursday, June 18th. Finally, Truist Financial lowered their price objective on shares of Accenture from $210.00 to $150.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a report on Monday, June 22nd. Twelve investment 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. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $193.19.

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.

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 reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.