Manning & Napier Advisors LLC Sells 9,513 Shares of Accenture PLC $ACN

Manning & Napier Advisors LLC trimmed its position in Accenture PLC (NYSE:ACN) by 61.9% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 5,862 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock after selling 9,513 shares during the period. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC’s holdings in Accenture were worth $1,446,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Sanders Capital LLC purchased a new stake in Accenture during the second quarter valued at approximately $2,637,640,000. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Accenture during 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 worth $19,466,641,000 after purchasing an additional 1,315,548 shares in the last quarter. McElhenny Sheffield Capital Management LLC bought a new position in Accenture in the 2nd quarter worth $308,000. Finally, Flossbach Von Storch SE lifted its position in Accenture by 48.0% during the second quarter. Flossbach Von Storch SE now owns 2,408,800 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $719,966,000 after purchasing an additional 781,211 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 75.14% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ACN has been the topic of several recent research reports. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price objective on Accenture from $250.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 10th. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “buy” rating and set a $330.00 target price on shares of Accenture in a research note on Thursday, December 18th. Dbs Bank upgraded shares of Accenture from a “hold” rating to a “moderate buy” rating in a research report on Monday, October 27th. Rothschild & Co Redburn raised their price objective on shares of Accenture from $205.00 to $210.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, January 5th. Finally, Robert W. Baird dropped their target price on shares of Accenture from $350.00 to $330.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, September 26th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seventeen have issued a Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $296.80.

Insider Activity

In other Accenture news, insider Manish Sharma sold 6,902 shares of Accenture stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $250.01, for a total value of $1,725,569.02. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 1,860 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $465,018.60. This trade represents a 78.77% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Mauro Macchi sold 500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $280.00, for a total transaction of $140,000.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 7,623 shares in the company, valued at $2,134,440. This represents a 6.16% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 35,151 shares of company stock worth $8,841,525. 0.02% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Accenture Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE ACN opened at $288.64 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $177.69 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.85, a P/E/G ratio of 2.67 and a beta of 1.25. Accenture PLC has a 52-week low of $229.40 and a 52-week high of $398.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a quick ratio of 1.41 and a current ratio of 1.41. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $262.44 and its two-hundred day moving average is $259.31.

Accenture (NYSE:ACN) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, December 18th. The information technology services provider reported $3.94 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.73 by $0.21. The firm had revenue of $18.74 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $18.51 billion. Accenture had a return on equity of 26.65% and a net margin of 10.76%.The business’s quarterly revenue was up 5.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $3.59 earnings per share. Accenture has set its FY 2026 guidance at 13.520-13.900 EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that Accenture PLC will post 12.73 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Accenture Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 13th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, January 13th will be issued a dividend of $1.63 per share. This represents a $6.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, January 13th. Accenture’s dividend payout ratio is 53.88%.

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.