J. Safra Sarasin Holding AG Purchases 16,841 Shares of Accenture PLC $ACN

J. Safra Sarasin Holding AG lifted its position in shares of Accenture PLC (NYSE:ACN) by 8.1% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 224,517 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock after buying an additional 16,841 shares during the period. J. Safra Sarasin Holding AG’s holdings in Accenture were worth $44,519,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Accenture by 1.3% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 66,070,930 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $17,726,831,000 after acquiring an additional 854,361 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its stake in shares of Accenture by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 28,264,675 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $7,583,462,000 after purchasing an additional 129,610 shares in the last quarter. Capital International Investors grew its holdings in shares of Accenture by 2.0% during the 4th quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 17,471,554 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $4,687,867,000 after purchasing an additional 343,420 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in Accenture by 1.5% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 14,656,436 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $3,922,212,000 after purchasing an additional 218,719 shares during the period. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its stake in Accenture by 5.4% in the fourth quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 10,693,994 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $2,869,199,000 after purchasing an additional 546,198 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.14% of the company’s stock.

Accenture Stock Performance

Shares of ACN stock opened at $135.19 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $90.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.80, a PEG ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.13. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $160.28 and a 200 day moving average of $203.47. Accenture PLC has a 52 week low of $118.15 and a 52 week high of $291.09. The company has a quick ratio of 1.34, a current ratio of 1.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15.

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

Accenture announced that its board has authorized a stock buyback plan on Tuesday, June 23rd that permits the company to buyback $2.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the information technology services provider to purchase up to 2.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are typically a sign that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Accenture Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 14th. Investors of record on Thursday, July 9th will be paid a $1.63 dividend. This represents a $6.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, July 9th. Accenture’s dividend payout ratio is presently 52.08%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Accenture news, CEO Atsushi Egawa sold 4,872 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $177.14, for a total value 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 filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. 0.02% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ACN has been the subject of several analyst reports. William Blair lowered shares of Accenture from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, June 18th. TD Cowen lowered Accenture from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and lowered their target price for the company from $258.00 to $150.00 in a research note on Monday, June 22nd. HSBC reduced their price target on Accenture from $220.00 to $210.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 14th. BNP Paribas Exane lowered their price objective on Accenture from $180.00 to $130.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, June 26th. Finally, Guggenheim dropped their price objective on Accenture from $225.00 to $185.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, June 22nd. Twelve research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fourteen have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $193.19.

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.