Madison Large Cap Fund Sold Its Position in Accenture (ACN) Amid AI Concerns
Madison Investments, an investment advisor, released its first-quarter 2026 investor letter for the “Madison Large Cap Fund”. A copy of the letter is available to download here. The Madison Large Cap Fund (Class I) declined 2.7% in the quarter, outperforming the S&P 500's -4.33% return. The fund focuses on long-term capital appreciation. The quarter saw a shift in the equity market beyond the mega-cap technology stocks into physical economy stocks, influenced by fears of AI disruption. Additionally, rising commodity prices due to the Middle East conflict reignited inflation concerns, benefiting sectors such as Energy, Materials, Utilities, Staples, and Real Estate, which the Fund does not invest in, impacting its relative performance. Please review the Fund’s top five holdings to gain insights into their key selections for 2026.
In its first-quarter 2026 investor letter, Madison Large Cap Fund highlighted Accenture plc (NYSE:ACN). Accenture plc (NYSE:ACN), a professional services company that focuses on consulting, technology and outsourcing, was among the leading detractors from performance during the quarter. On June 12, 2026, Accenture plc (NYSE:ACN) closed at $170.28 per share. One-month return of Accenture plc (NYSE:ACN) was -4.09%, and its shares lost 45.83% over the past 52 weeks. Accenture plc (NYSE:ACN) has a market capitalization of $104.79 billion.
Madison Large Cap Fund stated the following regarding Accenture plc (NYSE:ACN) in its Q1 2026 investor letter:
"The bottom five detractors for the quarter were Gartner, Danaher, Workday, Accenture plc (NYSE:ACN), and Agilent Technologies. At Accenture, performance continues to be muted as clients eschew large discretionary projects and Department of Government Efficiency (“DOGE”) efforts weigh on its Public Service customer group. While we’ve long admired Accenture’s ability to retool its nearly 800,000 employee workforce to adapt and commercialize the latest technology with its large enterprise customer base, we sold our position in the quarter. The company has recently started to limit its disclosure of customer bookings related to AI technology and evolved its capital allocation framework to emphasize acquisitions outside its core business. In light of these developments and range of outcomes related to the impact of AI on its business, we elected to sell our investment."
Accenture plc (NYSE:ACN) is not on our list of 40 Most Popular Stocks Among Hedge Funds Heading Into 2026. According to our database, 64 hedge fund portfolios held Accenture plc (NYSE:ACN) at the end of the first quarter, up from 71 in the previous quarter. In the first quarter of fiscal 2026, Accenture plc (NYSE:ACN) reported revenues of $18.7 billion, reflecting a 5% increase in local currency. While we acknowledge the potential of Accenture plc (NYSE:ACN) as an investment, we believe certain AI stocks offer greater upside potential and carry less downside risk. If you're looking for an extremely undervalued AI stock that also stands to benefit significantly from Trump-era tariffs and the onshoring trend, see our free report on the best short-term AI stock.
In another article, we covered Accenture plc (NYSE:ACN) and shared the list of best tech stocks to invest in on the dip. In its Q1 2026 investor letter, Artisan Value Fund identified Accenture plc (NYSE:ACN) as its biggest decliner. In addition, please check out our hedge fund investor letters Q1 2026 page for more investor letters from hedge funds and other leading investors.
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Disclosure: None. This article is originally published at Insider Monkey.