HighTower Advisors LLC Has $117.49 Million Holdings in Accenture PLC $ACN

HighTower Advisors LLC trimmed its holdings in shares of Accenture PLC (NYSE:ACN) by 5.0% in the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 476,409 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock after selling 24,901 shares during the period. HighTower Advisors LLC’s holdings in Accenture were worth $117,485,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Accenture by 2.1% in the 2nd 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 last quarter. State Street Corp raised its position in Accenture by 1.2% during the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 28,016,605 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $8,373,925,000 after acquiring an additional 326,979 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in Accenture by 1.1% in the 2nd 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 acquiring an additional 147,931 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its position in Accenture by 12.8% during the 3rd 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 purchasing an additional 1,148,970 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sanders Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of Accenture in the 2nd quarter valued at $2,637,640,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.14% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have issued reports on ACN. Susquehanna upped their price objective on shares of Accenture from $270.00 to $277.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, December 19th. Wolfe Research boosted their target price on Accenture from $300.00 to $330.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 11th. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $330.00 price target on shares of Accenture in a report on Thursday, December 18th. Rothschild & Co Redburn boosted their price objective on shares of Accenture from $205.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, January 5th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on Accenture from $251.00 to $275.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 14th. Sixteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eleven have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Accenture has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $298.38.

Accenture Stock Performance

ACN opened at $224.03 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.41, a current ratio of 1.41 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $266.75 and its 200-day moving average price is $254.64. Accenture PLC has a 52-week low of $215.16 and a 52-week high of $392.02. The company has a market cap of $137.92 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.51, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.16 and a beta of 1.24.

Accenture (NYSE:ACN) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, December 18th. The information technology services provider reported $3.94 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.73 by $0.21. The business had revenue of $18.74 billion for 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%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $3.59 earnings per share. Accenture has set its FY 2026 guidance at 13.520-13.900 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Accenture PLC will post 12.73 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Accenture Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 13th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, January 13th were paid a dividend of $1.63 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, January 13th. This represents a $6.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.9%. Accenture’s dividend payout ratio is currently 53.88%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO John F. Walsh sold 3,986 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $276.38, for a total transaction of $1,101,650.68. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 27,221 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,523,339.98. This represents a 12.77% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Manish Sharma sold 2,731 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $288.13, for a total transaction of $786,883.03. Following the sale, the insider owned 7,057 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,033,333.41. This represents a 27.90% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold a total of 22,088 shares of company stock worth $5,970,434 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.02% of the company’s stock.

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.