Accenture CEOs Sell $628K Stock, Hartline Cuts Stake by 30.8%
Accenture insiders sold 3,526 shares, including CEO Mauro Macchi’s 500 shares at $280, General Counsel Joel Unruch’s 1,332 shares at $275 and CEO Julie Sweet’s 1,694 shares at $288.30. Separately, Hartline Investment Corp. reduced its third-quarter stake by 2,587 shares (30.8%), leaving 5,810 shares valued at $1.43 million.
1. CEO Insider Selling Transaction
On January 14, Accenture CEO Mauro Macchi sold 500 shares of company stock for a total of $140,000, reducing his personal holding from 7,623 shares to 7,123 shares, a decline of 6.56%. This sale was disclosed in an SEC filing and follows a prior sale on January 7 of 500 shares for the same aggregate amount. In the past three months, insiders have sold a combined 40,076 shares valued at approximately $10.26 million, representing 0.02% of outstanding stock.
2. Quarterly Earnings and Dividend Update
For the quarter ended December 18, Accenture reported revenue of $18.74 billion, up 5.7% year-over-year, and earnings per share of $3.94, beating consensus estimates by $0.21. Net margin stood at 10.76% and return on equity at 26.65%. Management guided full-year fiscal 2026 EPS to a range of 13.520–13.900. The board declared a quarterly dividend of $1.63 per share, to be paid February 13 to shareholders of record January 13, implying an annualized payout of $6.52 and a yield of 2.3%.
3. Analyst Ratings and Institutional Activity
Eighteen analysts rate the stock a buy or better, eleven rate it a hold and one issues a sell, yielding a consensus opinion of Moderate Buy with a target of 297.20. Recent broker actions include Mizuho reducing its target from 348.00 to 309.00 and Deutsche Bank increasing its target to 265.00. Institutional investors maintain 75.14% ownership. In Q3, Hartline Investment cut its position by 30.8% to 5,810 shares; Brighton Jones added 4,905 shares in Q4 to hold 18,438; Harbor Capital Advisors grew its stake by 132.6% to 107 shares.