Swedbank AB Sells 297,843 Shares of Accenture PLC $ACN

Key Points

• Swedbank AB reduced its Accenture stake by 19.2% in the first quarter, selling 297,843 shares and leaving it with 1,253,452 shares valued at about $248.5 million.
• Analyst sentiment remains mixed: the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $195, even as several firms recently cut targets or downgraded the shares.
• Accenture reported solid earnings and returned capital to shareholders, topping EPS estimates last quarter, raising its quarterly dividend to $1.63 per share, and authorizing a new $2 billion share buyback plan.

Swedbank AB trimmed its position in Accenture PLC (NYSE:ACN - Free Report) by 19.2% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,253,452 shares of the information technology services provider's stock after selling 297,843 shares during the quarter. Swedbank AB owned about 0.19% of Accenture worth $248,547,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of ACN. Brighton Jones LLC grew its stake in Accenture by 36.2% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 18,438 shares of the information technology services provider's stock valued at $6,486,000 after acquiring an additional 4,905 shares in the last quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC lifted its stake in Accenture by 46.9% in the 2nd quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC now owns 2,066 shares of the information technology services provider's stock worth $618,000 after purchasing an additional 660 shares in the last quarter. United Bank boosted its holdings in shares of Accenture by 49.8% during the 2nd quarter. United Bank now owns 3,639 shares of the information technology services provider's stock valued at $1,088,000 after purchasing an additional 1,209 shares during the last quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia grew its position in shares of Accenture by 23.0% during the second quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia now owns 828 shares of the information technology services provider's stock valued at $247,000 after purchasing an additional 155 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Main Street Financial Solutions LLC increased its holdings in shares of Accenture by 4.2% in the second quarter. Main Street Financial Solutions LLC now owns 1,767 shares of the information technology services provider's stock worth $528,000 after purchasing an additional 72 shares during the last quarter. 75.14% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently commented on ACN shares. UBS Group reissued a "buy" rating on shares of Accenture in a research note on Tuesday, June 16th. Dbs Bank downgraded Accenture from a "moderate buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 23rd. Berenberg Bank decreased their price objective on Accenture from $273.00 to $220.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, June 17th. Stifel Nicolaus cut their target price on shares of Accenture from $315.00 to $270.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, June 3rd. Finally, Truist Financial reduced their price target on shares of Accenture from $210.00 to $150.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, June 22nd. Twelve equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and fifteen have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Accenture has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $195.00.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Atsushi Egawa sold 4,872 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $177.14, for a total transaction of $863,026.08. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 12,802 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,267,746.28. This represents a 27.57% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders own 0.02% of the company's stock.

Accenture Trading Up 4.6%

Shares of NYSE ACN traded up $6.29 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $143.25. 2,293,795 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 7,167,063. The company's 50 day moving average price is $164.30 and its 200 day moving average price is $208.17. Accenture PLC has a 12 month low of $118.15 and a 12 month high of $307.77. The stock has a market capitalization of $95.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.40, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.36 and a beta of 1.13. The company has a current ratio of 1.34, a quick ratio of 1.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15.

Accenture (NYSE:ACN - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, June 18th. The information technology services provider reported $3.80 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $3.70 by $0.10. Accenture had a return on equity of 26.47% and a net margin of 10.66%.The company had revenue of $18.72 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $18.78 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $3.49 earnings per share. Accenture's revenue was up 5.6% on a year-over-year basis. Accenture has set its FY 2026 guidance at 13.780-13.900 EPS. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Accenture PLC will post 13.85 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Accenture Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 14th. Investors of record on Thursday, July 9th will be paid a dividend of $1.63 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, July 9th. This represents a $6.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.6%. Accenture's payout ratio is currently 52.08%.

Accenture declared that its board has approved a share repurchase plan on Tuesday, June 23rd that allows the company to buyback $2.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the information technology services provider to reacquire up to 2.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are typically an indication that the company's board believes its stock is undervalued.

About Accenture

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.

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.