Insider Selling: Accenture (NYSE:ACN) COO Sells 660 Shares of Stock

Accenture PLC (NYSE:ACN) COO Catherine Kiernan Hogan sold 660 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $280.93, for a total transaction of $185,413.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer owned 12,688 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,564,439.84. This represents a 4.94% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website.

Accenture Stock Down 1.8%

Shares of ACN traded down $5.01 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $275.70. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 2,936,872 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,728,268. The company’s 50 day moving average is $268.58 and its 200 day moving average is $258.04. Accenture PLC has a 12-month low of $229.40 and a 12-month high of $398.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 1.41 and a quick ratio of 1.41. The stock has a market cap of $169.72 billion, a PE ratio of 22.78, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.70 and a beta of 1.25.

Accenture (NYSE:ACN) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, December 18th. The information technology services provider reported $3.94 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.73 by $0.21. Accenture had a return on equity of 26.65% and a net margin of 10.76%.The company had revenue of $18.74 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $18.51 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $3.59 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.7% on a year-over-year basis. Accenture has set its FY 2026 guidance at 13.520-13.900 EPS. Equities analysts anticipate that Accenture PLC will post 12.73 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Accenture Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 13th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, January 13th will be given a $1.63 dividend. This represents a $6.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, January 13th. Accenture’s dividend payout ratio is presently 53.88%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

ACN has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Truist Financial assumed coverage on shares of Accenture in a research report on Tuesday, January 6th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $317.00 target price for the company. Dbs Bank upgraded Accenture from a “hold” rating to a “moderate buy” rating in a research report on Monday, October 27th. Evercore ISI reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $300.00 price target on shares of Accenture in a research note on Thursday, December 18th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Accenture from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, October 11th. Finally, Argus cut their target price on Accenture from $370.00 to $335.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Sixteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, twelve have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $298.38.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Accenture

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Optas LLC raised its position in shares of Accenture by 55.9% in the fourth quarter. Optas LLC now owns 2,629 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $705,000 after purchasing an additional 943 shares during the period. Ticino Wealth acquired a new position in shares of Accenture during the fourth quarter worth $2,053,000. Novem Group raised its position in Accenture by 27.3% during the 4th quarter. Novem Group now owns 1,793 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $481,000 after purchasing an additional 385 shares during the last quarter. Evergreen Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Accenture by 12.2% in the 4th quarter. Evergreen Capital Management LLC now owns 31,713 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $8,509,000 after acquiring an additional 3,440 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Greystone Financial Group LLC bought a new stake in Accenture in the 4th quarter valued at about $712,000. Institutional investors own 75.14% of the company’s stock.

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.