Insider Selling: Accenture (NYSE:ACN) General Counsel Sells 10,498 Shares

Accenture PLC (NYSE:ACN) General Counsel Joel Unruch sold 10,498 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $162.98, for a total value of $1,710,964.04. Following the transaction, the general counsel owned 17,735 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,890,450.30. This trade represents a 37.18% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan.

Accenture Price Performance

Shares of ACN traded up $3.05 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $166.34. The stock had a trading volume of 9,349,541 shares, compared to its average volume of 7,329,817. The stock has a market capitalization of $111.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.29, a P/E/G ratio of 1.79 and a beta of 1.13. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a current ratio of 1.34 and a quick ratio of 1.34. The company’s fifty day moving average is $152.82 and its two-hundred day moving average is $191.29. Accenture PLC has a 52 week low of $118.15 and a 52 week high of $291.09.

Accenture (NYSE:ACN) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, June 18th. The information technology services provider reported $3.80 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.70 by $0.10. Accenture had a return on equity of 26.47% and a net margin of 10.66%.The firm had revenue of $18.72 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $18.78 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $3.49 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 5.6% on a year-over-year basis. Accenture has set its FY 2026 guidance at 13.780-13.900 EPS. On average, analysts anticipate that Accenture PLC will post 13.85 EPS for the current year.

Accenture Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 14th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, July 9th will be paid a $1.63 dividend. This represents a $6.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, July 9th. Accenture’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 52.08%.

Accenture announced that its Board of Directors has approved a share buyback program on Tuesday, June 23rd that permits the company to repurchase $2.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the information technology services provider to repurchase up to 2.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are usually an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Triumph Capital Management acquired a new position in shares of Accenture during the 3rd quarter worth about $26,000. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in Accenture during the fourth quarter worth about $27,000. Dogwood Wealth Management LLC increased its position in Accenture by 147.1% during the second quarter. Dogwood Wealth Management LLC now owns 215 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $27,000 after buying an additional 128 shares during the last quarter. McMillan Office Inc. bought a new stake in Accenture in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Finally, University of Texas Texas AM Investment Management Co. acquired a new stake in shares of Accenture in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Institutional investors own 75.14% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently issued reports on ACN. Susquehanna reduced their price target on Accenture from $186.00 to $140.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, June 22nd. DA Davidson reduced their target price on Accenture from $275.00 to $175.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, June 23rd. BNP Paribas Exane cut their price objective on Accenture from $180.00 to $130.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, June 26th. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price target on Accenture from $270.00 to $230.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, June 18th. Finally, Truist Financial lowered their price objective on shares of Accenture from $210.00 to $150.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, June 22nd. Twelve equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fourteen have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $192.96.

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.