Smith Chas P & Associates PA Cpas Buys 5,024 Shares of Accenture PLC $ACN

Key Points

• Smith Chas P & Associates PA Cpas has increased its stake in Accenture PLC by 4.3%, now owning 123,179 shares worth approximately $36.8 million.
• Accenture has announced a quarterly dividend increase to $1.63 per share, resulting in an annualized yield of 2.7%.
• Recent analyst ratings show a mixed outlook, with one rating as a “Strong Buy” and an average target price of $301.91 amidst various price target adjustments from brokerages.

Smith Chas P & Associates PA Cpas boosted its stake in Accenture PLC (NYSE:ACN - Free Report) by 4.3% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 123,179 shares of the information technology services provider's stock after buying an additional 5,024 shares during the period. Accenture makes up 2.1% of Smith Chas P & Associates PA Cpas' portfolio, making the stock its 19th largest holding. Smith Chas P & Associates PA Cpas' holdings in Accenture were worth $36,817,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Elser Financial Planning Inc bought a new position in shares of Accenture during the second quarter worth approximately $244,000. Baron Silver Stevens Financial Advisors LLC increased its position in Accenture by 19.5% during the 2nd quarter. Baron Silver Stevens Financial Advisors LLC now owns 1,202 shares of the information technology services provider's stock worth $359,000 after buying an additional 196 shares during the period. Archford Capital Strategies LLC boosted its position in shares of Accenture by 12.3% in the second quarter. Archford Capital Strategies LLC now owns 8,191 shares of the information technology services provider's stock valued at $2,448,000 after acquiring an additional 895 shares during the period. Kelly Financial Services LLC increased its position in Accenture by 5.2% during the second quarter. Kelly Financial Services LLC now owns 1,003 shares of the information technology services provider's stock worth $300,000 after acquiring an additional 50 shares during the period. Finally, FARMERS & MERCHANTS TRUST Co OF LONG BEACH boosted its holdings in Accenture by 4.0% in the 2nd quarter. FARMERS & MERCHANTS TRUST Co OF LONG BEACH now owns 1,143 shares of the information technology services provider's stock valued at $342,000 after purchasing an additional 44 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 75.14% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on ACN. BNP Paribas Exane cut their price target on shares of Accenture from $300.00 to $255.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, September 24th. HSBC dropped their price objective on Accenture from $240.00 to $215.00 in a research report on Friday. TD Cowen lowered their target price on Accenture from $313.00 to $295.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Friday. Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on shares of Accenture from $325.00 to $271.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, September 9th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft dropped their price objective on shares of Accenture from $260.00 to $235.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research note on Friday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have issued 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, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $301.91.

Insider Buying and Selling at Accenture

In other news, CEO Mauro Macchi sold 500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Friday, July 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $282.34, for a total value of $141,170.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 2,283 shares in the company, valued at $644,582.22. This represents a 17.97% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Angela Beatty sold 203 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $282.34, for a total transaction of $57,315.02. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 5,249 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,482,002.66. The trade was 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 have sold 2,954 shares of company stock worth $834,280. Corporate insiders own 0.02% of the company's stock.

Accenture Price Performance

Shares of NYSE ACN opened at $239.43 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $149.96 billion, a PE ratio of 19.71, a P/E/G ratio of 2.04 and a beta of 1.30. The company has a quick ratio of 1.46, a current ratio of 1.42 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $253.43 and a 200 day simple moving average of $285.81. Accenture PLC has a twelve month low of $229.40 and a twelve month high of $398.35.

Accenture (NYSE:ACN - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, September 25th. The information technology services provider reported $3.03 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.98 by $0.05. Accenture had a return on equity of 26.45% and a net margin of 11.02%.The company had revenue of $17.60 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $17.34 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $2.66 EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter 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, sell-side analysts forecast that Accenture PLC will post 12.73 EPS for the current year.

Accenture Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 14th. Investors of record on Friday, October 10th will be issued a dividend of $1.63 per share. This represents a $6.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.7%. This is an increase from Accenture's previous quarterly dividend of $1.48. The ex-dividend date is Friday, October 10th. Accenture's dividend payout ratio is currently 48.72%.

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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