SEB Asset Management AB Takes $57.38 Million Position in Accenture PLC $ACN

SEB Asset Management AB purchased a new position in Accenture PLC (NYSE:ACN) during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund purchased 289,380 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $57,381,000.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Brighton Jones LLC boosted its stake in Accenture by 36.2% during the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 18,438 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $6,486,000 after purchasing an additional 4,905 shares during the last quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC lifted its stake in shares of Accenture by 46.9% in the second quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC now owns 2,066 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $618,000 after buying an additional 660 shares in the last quarter. United Bank boosted its position in Accenture by 49.8% during the second quarter. United Bank now owns 3,639 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $1,088,000 after acquiring an additional 1,209 shares during the last quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia grew its stake in Accenture by 23.0% during the 2nd quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia now owns 828 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $247,000 after acquiring an additional 155 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Main Street Financial Solutions LLC grew its stake in Accenture by 4.2% during the 2nd quarter. Main Street Financial Solutions LLC now owns 1,767 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $528,000 after acquiring an additional 72 shares in the last quarter. 75.14% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Truist Financial lowered their target price on Accenture from $210.00 to $150.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, June 22nd. Morgan Stanley cut their price target on Accenture from $177.00 to $130.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, June 22nd. BNP Paribas Exane lowered their price objective on Accenture from $180.00 to $130.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, June 26th. HSBC cut their target price on Accenture from $220.00 to $210.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 14th. Finally, TD Cowen cut shares of Accenture from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and lowered their price target for the company from $258.00 to $150.00 in a research report on Monday, June 22nd. Twelve analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fourteen have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Accenture has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $193.19.

Accenture Trading Down 0.7%

Shares of Accenture stock opened at $143.56 on Friday. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $156.38 and a 200 day moving average of $199.36. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a quick ratio of 1.34 and a current ratio of 1.34. The firm has a market capitalization of $95.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.47, a PEG ratio of 1.49 and a beta of 1.13. Accenture PLC has a fifty-two week low of $118.15 and a fifty-two week high of $291.09.

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

Accenture Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 14th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, July 9th will be given a $1.63 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, July 9th. This represents a $6.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.5%. Accenture’s dividend payout ratio is presently 52.08%.

Accenture announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a share repurchase plan on Tuesday, June 23rd that permits the company to repurchase $2.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the information technology services provider to buy up to 2.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are typically an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Accenture news, CEO Atsushi Egawa sold 4,872 shares of Accenture stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $177.14, for a total transaction of $863,026.08. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 12,802 shares in the company, valued at $2,267,746.28. This trade represents a 27.57% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. 0.02% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.