Wedbush Securities Inc. Purchases 2,679 Shares of Accenture PLC $ACN

Wedbush Securities Inc. lifted its position in Accenture PLC (NYSE:ACN) by 40.0% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 9,369 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock after buying an additional 2,679 shares during the period. Wedbush Securities Inc.’s holdings in Accenture were worth $2,310,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in ACN. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Accenture by 2.1% during the second quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 65,129,782 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $19,466,641,000 after purchasing an additional 1,315,548 shares during the period. State Street Corp raised its holdings in Accenture by 1.2% during the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 28,016,605 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $8,373,925,000 after buying an additional 326,979 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Accenture by 1.1% in the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 14,042,843 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $4,182,331,000 after buying an additional 147,931 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its position in shares of Accenture by 12.8% during the third quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 10,147,796 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $2,502,446,000 after acquiring an additional 1,148,970 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sanders Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Accenture during the second quarter worth $2,637,640,000. 75.14% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Accenture Price Performance

NYSE:ACN opened at $222.10 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $136.73 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.36, a P/E/G ratio of 2.22 and a beta of 1.24. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $267.59 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $255.31. Accenture PLC has a one year low of $215.16 and a one year high of $392.02. 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 (NYSE:ACN) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, December 18th. The information technology services provider reported $3.94 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.73 by $0.21. The company had revenue of $18.74 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $18.51 billion. Accenture had a return on equity of 26.65% and a net margin of 10.76%.The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $3.59 earnings per share. Accenture has set its FY 2026 guidance at 13.520-13.900 EPS. Equities analysts expect that Accenture PLC will post 12.73 earnings per share for the current year.

Accenture Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 13th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, January 13th will be issued a $1.63 dividend. This represents a $6.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, January 13th. Accenture’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 53.88%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Accenture news, insider Manish Sharma sold 2,731 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $288.13, for a total transaction of $786,883.03. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 7,057 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,033,333.41. The trade was a 27.90% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CAO Melissa A. Burgum sold 3,588 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $281.01, for a total transaction of $1,008,263.88. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 8,179 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,298,380.79. The trade was a 30.49% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 22,088 shares of company stock worth $5,970,434. 0.02% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ACN has been the subject of several recent research reports. Susquehanna upped their price objective on Accenture from $270.00 to $277.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, December 19th. UBS Group cut Accenture from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 22nd. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $330.00 price target on shares of Accenture in a research note on Thursday, December 18th. TD Cowen increased their target price on shares of Accenture from $295.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, December 19th. Finally, Rothschild & Co Redburn lifted their price target on shares of Accenture from $205.00 to $210.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, January 5th. Sixteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eleven have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $298.38.

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.