Russell Investments Group Ltd. Raises Holdings in Accenture PLC $ACN

Russell Investments Group Ltd. boosted its stake in Accenture PLC (NYSE:ACN) by 31.5% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 1,348,838 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 322,899 shares during the period. Accenture comprises 0.4% of Russell Investments Group Ltd.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 25th largest position. Russell Investments Group Ltd.’s holdings in Accenture were worth $362,131,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in ACN. Jaffetilchin Investment Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of Accenture by 4.2% in the fourth quarter. Jaffetilchin Investment Partners LLC now owns 878 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $236,000 after purchasing an additional 35 shares during the last quarter. Clayton Financial Group LLC raised its holdings in Accenture by 13.1% during the 4th quarter. Clayton Financial Group LLC now owns 329 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $88,000 after buying an additional 38 shares during the last quarter. Holt Capital Advisors L.L.C. dba Holt Capital Partners L.P. boosted its position in Accenture by 0.9% during the 3rd quarter. Holt Capital Advisors L.L.C. dba Holt Capital Partners L.P. now owns 4,416 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $1,089,000 after buying an additional 41 shares during the period. Peak Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in Accenture by 0.8% in the 4th quarter. Peak Asset Management LLC now owns 5,447 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $1,461,000 after acquiring an additional 43 shares during the last quarter. Finally, SkyView Investment Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Accenture by 1.2% in the second quarter. SkyView Investment Advisors LLC now owns 3,751 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $1,108,000 after acquiring an additional 43 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.14% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Accenture

In other news, CEO Atsushi Egawa sold 4,872 shares of the company’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 sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 12,802 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,267,746.28. This represents a 27.57% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. 0.02% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Key Accenture News

Here are the key news stories impacting Accenture this week:

• Negative Sentiment: Susquehanna cut its price target on Accenture to $186 from $222 and kept a neutral rating, adding to the cautious tone around the stock ahead of earnings. Susquehanna adjusts price target on Accenture
• Negative Sentiment: Jefferies also lowered its target on Accenture to $185 from $210 and maintained a hold rating, reinforcing concerns that near-term upside may be limited. Jefferies adjusts price target on Accenture
• Neutral Sentiment: Investors are waiting for Accenture’s fiscal third-quarter results on June 18, with expectations for revenue and EPS growth that could determine whether the recent weakness continues or reverses. Accenture set to report Q3 earnings
• Neutral Sentiment: Accenture is also in the spotlight after Unilever said it is scaling AI-enabled digital twins across its manufacturing network with Accenture, highlighting ongoing enterprise AI work, though the announcement is not a major immediate catalyst. Unilever scales digital twins across global manufacturing network with Accenture
• Neutral Sentiment: Accenture received an award recognizing its AI innovation across its workforce, which supports the company’s AI narrative but is unlikely to move the stock on its own. Accenture award underscores AI role

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on ACN. Mizuho dropped their target price on shares of Accenture from $309.00 to $280.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, March 23rd. Royal Bank Of Canada reduced their price target on Accenture from $295.00 to $253.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, March 20th. Truist Financial cut Accenture from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and dropped their price objective for the stock from $260.00 to $210.00 in a report on Monday, June 1st. HSBC cut their price objective on Accenture from $220.00 to $210.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 14th. Finally, Citigroup decreased their target price on Accenture from $215.00 to $195.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday, June 1st. Sixteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eleven have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $242.41.

Accenture Stock Performance

Accenture stock opened at $165.84 on Wednesday. Accenture PLC has a fifty-two week low of $155.82 and a fifty-two week high of $315.95. The stock has a market cap of $110.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.58, a PEG ratio of 1.57 and a beta of 1.08. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $180.37 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $220.51. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a quick ratio of 1.34 and a current ratio of 1.34.

Accenture (NYSE:ACN) last released its earnings results on Friday, March 20th. The information technology services provider reported $2.93 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.84 by $0.09. Accenture had a return on equity of 26.33% and a net margin of 10.61%.The company had revenue of $18.04 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $17.80 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $2.82 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts expect that Accenture PLC will post 13.83 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Accenture Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 9th were issued a dividend of $1.63 per share. This represents a $6.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.9%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, April 9th. Accenture’s payout ratio is 53.40%.

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.