Windward Capital Management Co. CA Sells 2,385 Shares of Accenture PLC $ACN

Key Points

• Windward Capital Management Co. CA reduced its stake in Accenture PLC by 1.9%, owning 124,524 shares valued at approximately $38.86 million.
• Accenture reported $3.49 EPS for the latest quarter, exceeding analysts' expectations of $3.32, with revenue reaching $17.73 billion.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $1.48 per share, yielding 2.4% annually, with a payout ratio of 47.13%.

Windward Capital Management Co. CA decreased its holdings in Accenture PLC (NYSE:ACN - Free Report) by 1.9% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 124,524 shares of the information technology services provider's stock after selling 2,385 shares during the quarter. Accenture comprises approximately 3.4% of Windward Capital Management Co. CA's portfolio, making the stock its 9th biggest holding. Windward Capital Management Co. CA's holdings in Accenture were worth $38,856,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Brighton Jones LLC increased its position in shares of Accenture by 36.2% in 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 buying an additional 4,905 shares in the last quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Accenture during the fourth quarter valued at $317,000. Capital International Sarl boosted its stake in shares of Accenture by 2.3% during the fourth quarter. Capital International Sarl now owns 19,360 shares of the information technology services provider's stock valued at $6,811,000 after acquiring an additional 441 shares during the last quarter. Commerce Bank boosted its stake in shares of Accenture by 2.3% during the fourth quarter. Commerce Bank now owns 49,016 shares of the information technology services provider's stock valued at $17,243,000 after acquiring an additional 1,100 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Capital International Ltd. CA boosted its stake in Accenture by 5.6% in the 4th quarter. Capital International Ltd. CA now owns 6,235 shares of the information technology services provider's stock worth $2,193,000 after buying an additional 329 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.14% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Accenture news, CEO Mauro Macchi sold 500 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Friday, July 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $282.34, for a total transaction of $141,170.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 2,283 shares in the company, valued at approximately $644,582.22. The trade was a 17.97% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Julie Spellman Sweet sold 2,251 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on 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 of the company's stock, valued at $2,290,387.05. This trade represents a 21.73% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 2,954 shares of company stock worth $834,280. 0.02% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Accenture Stock Up 2.6%

ACN stock traded up $6.55 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $255.68. 4,554,348 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,796,628. The stock has a market capitalization of $160.14 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.36, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.27 and a beta of 1.29. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $281.27 and a 200-day moving average price of $309.36. The company has a current ratio of 1.46, a quick ratio of 1.46 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. Accenture PLC has a 12-month low of $236.67 and a 12-month high of $398.35.

Accenture (NYSE:ACN - Get Free Report) last issued 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 during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $17.26 billion. Accenture had a return on equity of 26.55% and a net margin of 11.61%.The business's revenue was up 7.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $3.13 EPS. Accenture has set its Q4 2025 guidance at EPS. FY 2025 guidance at 12.770-12.890 EPS. On average, analysts anticipate that Accenture PLC will post 12.73 EPS for the current year.

Accenture Dividend Announcement

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have issued reports on ACN shares. HSBC started coverage on Accenture in a research note on Monday, July 28th. They issued a "reduce" rating and a $240.00 price target on the stock. Argus set a $370.00 price target on Accenture in a research note on Tuesday, June 24th. UBS Group reaffirmed a "buy" rating and issued a $395.00 price objective (up from $390.00) on shares of Accenture in a research note on Thursday, May 22nd. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on Accenture from $340.00 to $325.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, June 24th. Finally, Guggenheim reduced their price objective on Accenture from $360.00 to $335.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, June 23rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have assigned a Buy rating, seven have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $360.21.

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.