Accenture (NYSE:ACN) Price Target Raised to $173.00

Accenture (NYSE:ACN) had its price target increased by TD Cowen from $151.00 to $173.00 in a research note issued to investors on Wednesday morning, Marketbeat Ratings reports. They currently have a hold rating on the information technology services provider’s stock.

A number of other research firms have also issued reports on ACN. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of Accenture from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 9th. Oppenheimer set a $201.00 price objective on shares of Accenture in a research report on Monday, June 8th. Evercore set a $180.00 price objective on shares of Accenture in a research note on Thursday, June 18th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on shares of Accenture from $200.00 to $194.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, July 20th. Finally, BNP Paribas Exane lowered their price target on shares of Accenture from $180.00 to $130.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, June 26th. Twelve analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fourteen have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $194.19.

Accenture Stock Performance

Shares of ACN stock opened at $189.58 on Wednesday. Accenture has a 1-year low of $118.15 and a 1-year high of $291.09. The company has a current ratio of 1.34, a quick ratio of 1.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15. The company has a market capitalization of $126.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.14, a P/E/G ratio of 1.94 and a beta of 1.09. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $155.72 and its 200-day simple moving average is $178.32.

Accenture (NYSE:ACN) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, June 19th. The information technology services provider reported $3.80 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.70 by $0.10. Accenture had a return on equity of 26.47% and a net margin of 10.66%.The firm had revenue of $18.72 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $18.78 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $3.49 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Accenture will post 13.85 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Accenture declared that its board has authorized a share repurchase plan on Tuesday, June 23rd that allows the company to buyback $2.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the information technology services provider to reacquire up to 2.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are often a sign that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Accenture Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 14th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, July 9th were paid a dividend of $1.63 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, July 9th. This represents a $6.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.4%. Accenture’s dividend payout ratio is 52.08%.

Insider Transactions at Accenture

In related news, General Counsel Joel Unruch sold 10,498 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $162.98, for a total value of $1,710,964.04. Following the completion of the sale, the general counsel directly owned 17,735 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,890,450.30. This represents a 37.18% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Corporate insiders own 0.02% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. California State Teachers Retirement System boosted its position in Accenture by 12,316.0% during the second quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 116,033,331 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $14,439,188,000 after purchasing an additional 115,098,783 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Accenture in the fourth quarter worth $2,146,995,000. Flossbach Von Storch SE bought a new stake in shares of Accenture during the 2nd quarter worth $309,873,000. First Trust Advisors LP grew its stake in Accenture by 120.0% in the 1st quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 3,482,150 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $690,475,000 after buying an additional 1,899,305 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Voloridge Investment Management LLC bought a new position in Accenture in the 3rd quarter worth $311,694,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.14% of the company’s stock.

About Accenture

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.