Accenture PLC $ACN Shares Acquired by Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC

Key Points

• Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC increased its stake in Accenture PLC by 9.4%, owning a total of 46,398 shares valued at approximately $14.48 million after purchasing an additional 3,982 shares.
• Insider transactions included CEO Julie Spellman Sweet selling 2,251 shares, reducing her ownership by 21.73%, while another insider sold 203 shares, leading to a total insider selling of 2,954 shares worth $834,280 in the last three months.
• Accenture reported impressive earnings, with $3.49 earnings per share and revenue of $17.73 billion for the quarter, surpassing estimates and showing a 7.7% increase compared to the previous year.

Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC lifted its holdings in Accenture PLC (NYSE:ACN - Free Report) by 9.4% in the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 46,398 shares of the information technology services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 3,982 shares during the period. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC's holdings in Accenture were worth $14,478,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Cresset Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in Accenture by 19.4% during the 1st quarter. Cresset Asset Management LLC now owns 93,186 shares of the information technology services provider's stock worth $29,078,000 after acquiring an additional 15,161 shares in the last quarter. Boston Family Office LLC grew its holdings in Accenture by 46.7% during the 1st quarter. Boston Family Office LLC now owns 4,580 shares of the information technology services provider's stock worth $1,429,000 after acquiring an additional 1,459 shares in the last quarter. Tocqueville Asset Management L.P. grew its holdings in Accenture by 23.3% during the 1st quarter. Tocqueville Asset Management L.P. now owns 1,111 shares of the information technology services provider's stock worth $347,000 after acquiring an additional 210 shares in the last quarter. Gen Wealth Partners Inc grew its holdings in Accenture by 14.4% during the 1st quarter. Gen Wealth Partners Inc now owns 2,699 shares of the information technology services provider's stock worth $842,000 after acquiring an additional 340 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Redmond Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in Accenture by 1.4% during the 1st quarter. Redmond Asset Management LLC now owns 4,688 shares of the information technology services provider's stock worth $1,463,000 after acquiring an additional 64 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.14% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Mauro Macchi sold 500 shares of the firm'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 $141,170.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 2,283 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $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 at the SEC website. Also, CEO Julie Spellman Sweet sold 2,251 shares of Accenture stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $282.45, for a total transaction of $635,794.95. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 8,109 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,290,387.05. This trade represents a 21.73% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 2,954 shares of company stock valued at $834,280. Insiders own 0.02% of the company's stock.

Accenture Price Performance

Shares of NYSE ACN traded up $4.9040 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $258.8940. The company had a trading volume of 3,102,302 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,553,539. The company has a quick ratio of 1.46, a current ratio of 1.46 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. Accenture PLC has a twelve month low of $236.67 and a twelve month high of $398.35. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $278.70 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $308.07. The firm has a market capitalization of $162.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.61, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.32 and a beta of 1.29.

Accenture (NYSE:ACN - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, June 20th. The information technology services provider reported $3.49 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.32 by $0.17. Accenture had a net margin of 11.61% and a return on equity of 26.55%. The firm had revenue of $17.73 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $17.26 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $3.13 earnings per share. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 7.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Accenture has set its Q4 2025 guidance at EPS. FY 2025 guidance at 12.770-12.890 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that Accenture PLC will post 12.73 earnings per share for the current year.

Accenture Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, July 10th were given a $1.48 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, July 10th. This represents a $5.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.3%. Accenture's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 47.13%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have commented on ACN shares. Barclays lowered their price target on shares of Accenture from $390.00 to $360.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Monday, June 23rd. Evercore ISI initiated coverage on shares of Accenture in a report on Thursday, July 17th. They issued an "outperform" rating and a $330.00 target price for the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on shares of Accenture from $334.00 to $302.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday. Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on shares of Accenture from $340.00 to $325.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, June 24th. Finally, HSBC began coverage on shares of Accenture in a research note on Monday, July 28th. They set a "reduce" rating and a $240.00 price target for the company. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have assigned a Buy rating, seven have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Accenture has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $358.08.

Accenture 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.