Accenture (NYSE:ACN) Hits New 12-Month High – What’s Next?

Accenture plc (NYSE:ACN) shares reached a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Tuesday . The stock traded as high as $389.83 and last traded at $387.30, with a volume of 340739 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $385.21.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts recently commented on ACN shares. BNP Paribas lowered shares of Accenture from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $375.00 price target on the stock. in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on Accenture from $370.00 to $396.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, December 16th. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their target price on Accenture from $385.00 to $355.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Robert W. Baird reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $370.00 price target on shares of Accenture in a report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Finally, Wolfe Research upgraded shares of Accenture from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $425.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $387.22.

Accenture Trading Up 0.9 %

The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $360.05 and a 200-day simple moving average of $350.64. The company has a market cap of $243.11 billion, a PE ratio of 32.61, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.43 and a beta of 1.24. The company has a quick ratio of 1.47, a current ratio of 1.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17.

Accenture (NYSE:ACN) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, December 19th. The information technology services provider reported $3.59 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.43 by $0.16. Accenture had a return on equity of 26.91% and a net margin of 11.41%. The company had revenue of $17.69 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $17.15 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $3.27 EPS. Accenture’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts predict that Accenture plc will post 12.69 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Accenture Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 14th. Investors of record on Thursday, January 16th will be issued a $1.48 dividend. This represents a $5.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.52%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, January 16th. Accenture’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 49.66%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, General Counsel Joel Unruch sold 4,750 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $362.78, for a total value of $1,723,205.00. Following the completion of the sale, the general counsel now directly owns 20,526 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,446,422.28. The trade was a 18.79 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Angela Beatty sold 375 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $358.50, for a total value of $134,437.50. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 5,149 shares in the company, valued at $1,845,916.50. This represents a 6.79 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 13,255 shares of company stock valued at $4,756,101 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.02% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Accenture

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Masso Torrence Wealth Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Accenture by 2.0% during the third quarter. Masso Torrence Wealth Management Inc. now owns 1,447 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $511,000 after buying an additional 28 shares during the period. BSW Wealth Partners grew its stake in shares of Accenture by 0.7% in the 3rd quarter. BSW Wealth Partners now owns 4,077 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $1,441,000 after purchasing an additional 28 shares during the last quarter. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Accenture by 5.7% in the fourth quarter. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 518 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $182,000 after purchasing an additional 28 shares during the period. FPC Investment Advisory Inc. increased its stake in Accenture by 62.2% in the 4th quarter. FPC Investment Advisory Inc. now owns 73 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 28 shares during the period. Finally, Slow Capital Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Accenture by 0.3% in the 3rd quarter. Slow Capital Inc. now owns 9,067 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $3,205,000 after acquiring an additional 29 shares during the period. 75.14% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Accenture Company Profile

Accenture plc, a professional services company, provides strategy and consulting, industry X, song, and technology and operation services worldwide. The company offers application services, including agile transformation, DevOps, application modernization, enterprise architecture, software and quality engineering, data management; intelligent automation comprising robotic process automation, natural language processing, and virtual agents; and application management services, as well as software engineering services; strategy and consulting services; data and analytics strategy, data discovery and augmentation, data management and beyond, data democratization, and industrialized solutions comprising turnkey analytics and artificial intelligence (AI) solutions; metaverse; and sustainability services.