Principal Financial Group Inc. Sells 11,482 Shares of Accenture PLC $ACN

Principal Financial Group Inc. lessened its holdings in Accenture PLC (NYSE:ACN) by 1.5% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 741,727 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock after selling 11,482 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned approximately 0.11% of Accenture worth $182,910,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Sanders Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Accenture during the second quarter worth approximately $2,637,640,000. Norges Bank bought a new position in Accenture in the 2nd quarter valued at $2,216,850,000. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake 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 valued at $19,466,641,000 after buying an additional 1,315,548 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised 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 during the last quarter. Finally, McElhenny Sheffield Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Accenture during the second quarter valued at $308,000. 75.14% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Accenture

In related news, CAO Melissa A. Burgum sold 3,588 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $281.01, for a total transaction of $1,008,263.88. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer owned 8,179 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,298,380.79. This represents a 30.49% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Julie Spellman Sweet sold 5,917 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $246.62, for a total value of $1,459,250.54. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 8,599 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,120,685.38. This trade represents a 40.76% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold 21,934 shares of company stock valued at $5,965,166 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.02% of the company’s stock.

Accenture Trading Up 0.9%

Shares of Accenture stock opened at $263.58 on Monday. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $270.51 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $257.71. 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 company has a market capitalization of $162.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.78, a P/E/G ratio of 2.54 and a beta of 1.24. Accenture PLC has a 1 year low of $229.40 and a 1 year high of $398.35.

Accenture (NYSE:ACN) last announced its 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 business had revenue of $18.74 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $18.51 billion. Accenture had a net margin of 10.76% and a return on equity of 26.65%. Accenture’s revenue was up 5.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $3.59 EPS. Accenture has set its FY 2026 guidance at 13.520-13.900 EPS. Research analysts forecast that Accenture PLC will post 12.73 EPS for the current 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 dividend of $1.63 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, January 13th. This represents a $6.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.5%. Accenture’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 53.88%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. HSBC increased their price objective on shares of Accenture from $215.00 to $235.00 in a report on Friday, December 19th. Rothschild & Co Redburn increased their price target on Accenture from $205.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, January 5th. Citigroup upgraded shares of Accenture to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, October 23rd. Wolfe Research increased their price objective on Accenture from $300.00 to $330.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, December 11th. Finally, Guggenheim lifted their price target on shares of Accenture from $285.00 to $305.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, December 15th. Sixteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $298.38.

Accenture 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.