The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company Has $176.29 Million Stake in Accenture PLC $ACN

Key Points

• The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company reduced its stake in Accenture PLC by 29.5% during the first quarter, now holding approximately $176.29 million in stock.
• Institutional ownership of Accenture stands at 75.14%, with notable changes including Canada Pension Plan Investment Board increasing its stake by 77.1%.
• Accenture recently reported an EPS of $3.49 for the last quarter, exceeding estimates and signaling a 7.7% increase in year-over-year revenue.

The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company trimmed its position in shares of Accenture PLC (NYSE:ACN - Free Report) by 29.5% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 564,942 shares of the information technology services provider's stock after selling 236,353 shares during the quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company owned approximately 0.09% of Accenture worth $176,285,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in ACN. Mpwm Advisory Solutions LLC acquired a new stake in Accenture in the 4th quarter worth approximately $30,000. Park Square Financial Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Accenture during the fourth quarter worth approximately $31,000. Kelly Lawrence W & Associates Inc. CA acquired a new position in shares of Accenture during the first quarter worth approximately $31,000. Inlight Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Accenture during the first quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Finally, Capital A Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Accenture during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $34,000. 75.14% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at Accenture

In related news, CEO Julie Spellman Sweet sold 2,251 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $282.45, for a total value of $635,794.95. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 8,109 shares in the company, valued at $2,290,387.05. This trade represents a 21.73% 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, insider Angela Beatty sold 203 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $282.34, for a total value of $57,315.02. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 5,249 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,482,002.66. This represents a 3.72% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 2,954 shares of company stock worth $834,280 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.02% of the company's stock.

Accenture Price Performance

NYSE:ACN traded down $0.58 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $253.58. The company had a trading volume of 1,806,017 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,528,079. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $270.48 and a two-hundred day moving average of $299.86. The company has a quick ratio of 1.46, a current ratio of 1.46 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. The firm has a market capitalization of $158.82 billion, a PE ratio of 20.24, a PEG ratio of 2.23 and a beta of 1.29. Accenture PLC has a one year low of $236.67 and a one year high of $398.35.

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

Accenture Announces Dividend

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on ACN. BMO Capital Markets lowered their price objective on Accenture from $355.00 to $325.00 and set a "market perform" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, June 23rd. Evercore ISI began coverage on Accenture in a research report on Thursday, July 17th. They set an "outperform" rating and a $330.00 price objective on the stock. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft began coverage on Accenture in a research report on Thursday, July 17th. They set a "hold" rating and a $290.00 price objective on the stock. Guggenheim lowered their price objective on Accenture from $360.00 to $335.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, June 23rd. Finally, Benchmark restated a "mixed" rating on shares of Accenture in a research report on Friday, June 20th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have given a Buy rating, nine have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $353.76.

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.