Sumitomo Life Insurance Co. Reduces Stake in Accenture PLC $ACN

Sumitomo Life Insurance Co. trimmed its position in shares of Accenture PLC (NYSE:ACN) by 49.8% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 6,013 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock after selling 5,962 shares during the quarter. Sumitomo Life Insurance Co.’s holdings in Accenture were worth $1,483,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Investors Research Corp boosted its position in shares of Accenture by 73.8% in the 3rd quarter. Investors Research Corp now owns 106 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 45 shares in the last quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. raised its position in Accenture by 132.6% during the third quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 107 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 61 shares during the last quarter. Davis Capital Management purchased a new stake in shares of Accenture in the third quarter valued at about $28,000. Elevation Wealth Partners LLC grew its position in shares of Accenture by 146.0% in the third quarter. Elevation Wealth Partners LLC now owns 123 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 73 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Heartwood Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Accenture during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $32,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.14% of the company’s stock.

Key Headlines Impacting Accenture

Here are the key news stories impacting Accenture this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Accenture announced a strategic collaboration with Mistral AI to scale advanced, enterprise-grade AI across Europe and globally — a deal that reinforces Accenture’s AI services pipeline and client demand for model deployment. WSJ: Mistral lands Accenture BusinessWire: Accenture and Mistral AI
• Positive Sentiment: Accenture agreed to acquire Verum Partners to expand infrastructure and capital-projects capabilities in Latin America (mining, metals, transport, energy) — a targeted buy that supports sector-specific consulting and systems integration revenue. Yahoo Finance: Verum acquisition
• Positive Sentiment: Accenture Ventures led a $9M Series A for Profitmind, signaling continued corporate venture activity to bolster Accenture’s retail AI offerings and potential client/technology synergies. BusinessWire: Profitmind funding
• Positive Sentiment: Analysis pieces note Accenture’s fundamentals (revenue growth, margins, guidance) diverging from softer market sentiment — suggesting potential upside if market re-rates the stock to fundamentals. Seeking Alpha: Fundamentals vs sentiment
• Neutral Sentiment: Charts and commentary emphasize Accenture’s relative stability within the S&P 500, which may make it a defensive tech/consulting play rather than a high-volatility growth bet. Kalkine: S&P 500 stability
• Neutral Sentiment: Commentary about Accenture’s role in frontier AI alliances and a cultural shift raises questions about valuation multiples — useful context for investors weighing long-term upside vs near-term multiple compression. Yahoo Finance: Frontier Alliance & valuation
• Negative Sentiment: Analysts at Citigroup cut Accenture’s price target from $266 to $215 and kept a neutral rating, signaling less near-term upside from a major sell-side desk and potentially pressuring sentiment. Benzinga / MarketScreener: Citigroup lowers PT
• Negative Sentiment: Short interest rose ~24.5% in February to ~15.2M shares (?2.5% of float), a sign some traders are betting on near-term downside or continued multiple compression — this can amplify downward moves on negative news. (short interest data summary)

Insider Transactions at Accenture

In other Accenture news, CEO Julie Spellman Sweet sold 6,057 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $241.23, for a total transaction of $1,461,130.11. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 15,255 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,679,963.65. The trade was a 28.42% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Manish Sharma sold 2,731 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $288.13, for a total value of $786,883.03. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 7,057 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,033,333.41. This trade represents a 27.90% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold 22,088 shares of company stock valued at $5,970,434 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.02% of the company’s stock.

Accenture Trading Up 8.3%

Shares of ACN stock opened at $207.35 on Friday. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $255.79 and its 200-day simple moving average is $252.06. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 1.41 and a quick ratio of 1.41. Accenture PLC has a 1-year low of $188.73 and a 1-year high of $361.62. The firm has a market cap of $127.65 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.14, a PEG ratio of 1.84 and a beta of 1.24.

Accenture (NYSE:ACN) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, December 18th. The information technology services provider reported $3.94 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.73 by $0.21. The firm had revenue of $18.74 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $18.51 billion. Accenture had a net margin of 10.76% and a return on equity of 26.65%. Accenture’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $3.59 earnings per share. Accenture has set its FY 2026 guidance at 13.520-13.900 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Accenture PLC will post 12.73 EPS for the current year.

Accenture Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 13th. Investors of record on Tuesday, January 13th were given a $1.63 dividend. This represents a $6.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, January 13th. Accenture’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 53.88%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently issued reports on ACN. UBS Group lowered Accenture from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 22nd. Argus dropped their price objective on Accenture from $370.00 to $335.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, December 29th. Jefferies Financial Group upped their target price on shares of Accenture from $270.00 to $280.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, January 8th. Evercore reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $300.00 price target on shares of Accenture in a report on Thursday, December 18th. Finally, Susquehanna upped their price objective on shares of Accenture from $270.00 to $277.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, December 19th. Sixteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eleven have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Accenture has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $296.42.

Accenture Company Profile

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.