Accenture (NYSE:ACN) Price Target Raised to $305.00

Accenture (NYSE:ACN) had its price target raised by Guggenheim from $285.00 to $305.00 in a research note released on Monday morning,MarketScreener reports. They currently have a buy rating on the information technology services provider’s stock.

Other analysts also recently issued research reports about the company. Wells Fargo & Company began coverage on Accenture in a research note on Tuesday, October 21st. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $251.00 target price on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus cut their price objective on shares of Accenture from $355.00 to $315.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, September 16th. Royal Bank Of Canada decreased their target price on shares of Accenture from $372.00 to $285.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, September 26th. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price target on shares of Accenture from $370.00 to $330.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, September 26th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets decreased their price objective on shares of Accenture from $325.00 to $270.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, September 26th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have assigned a Buy rating, eleven have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Accenture presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $294.04.

Accenture Stock Up 0.5%

ACN stock opened at $273.40 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $180.03 billion, a PE ratio of 22.50, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.64 and a beta of 1.26. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $251.83 and its 200 day simple moving average is $264.30. Accenture has a fifty-two week low of $229.40 and a fifty-two week high of $398.35. The company has a quick ratio of 1.42, a current ratio of 1.42 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16.

Accenture (NYSE:ACN) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, September 25th. The information technology services provider reported $3.03 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.98 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $17.60 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $17.34 billion. Accenture had a net margin of 11.02% and a return on equity of 26.45%. Accenture’s quarterly revenue was up 7.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.66 EPS. Accenture has set its FY 2026 guidance at 13.190-13.570 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Accenture will post 12.73 EPS for the current year.

Accenture Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 14th. Investors of record on Friday, October 10th were paid a dividend of $1.63 per share. This is a boost from Accenture’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.48. This represents a $6.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, October 10th. Accenture’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 53.66%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Accenture news, insider Manish Sharma sold 6,902 shares of Accenture stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $250.01, for a total value of $1,725,569.02. Following the transaction, the insider owned 1,860 shares in the company, valued at approximately $465,018.60. The trade was a 78.77% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Julie Spellman Sweet sold 9,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $249.57, for a total value of $2,246,130.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 23,516 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,868,888.12. This trade represents a 27.68% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 33,319 shares of company stock worth $8,335,225. 0.02% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Accenture

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of ACN. Strategic Investment Advisors MI lifted its stake in Accenture by 6.8% in the 3rd quarter. Strategic Investment Advisors MI now owns 2,168 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $535,000 after acquiring an additional 138 shares in the last quarter. Keel Point LLC increased its holdings in shares of Accenture by 7.4% in the 3rd quarter. Keel Point LLC now owns 22,828 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $5,629,000 after purchasing an additional 1,581 shares during the period. Farmers National Bank lifted its position in shares of Accenture by 20.8% in the third quarter. Farmers National Bank now owns 21,769 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $5,368,000 after purchasing an additional 3,741 shares in the last quarter. Hudson Bay Capital Management LP boosted its holdings in shares of Accenture by 121.6% during the third quarter. Hudson Bay Capital Management LP now owns 2,804 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $691,000 after purchasing an additional 15,766 shares during the period. Finally, Alecta Tjanstepension Omsesidigt grew its position in Accenture by 13.3% during the third quarter. Alecta Tjanstepension Omsesidigt now owns 630,000 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $155,371,000 after purchasing an additional 74,000 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.14% of the company’s stock.

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.