Accenture (NYSE:ACN) Sets New 12-Month Low – Time to Sell?

Shares of Accenture PLC (NYSE:ACN) reached a new 52-week low on Tuesday . The stock traded as low as $172.22 and last traded at $172.4080, with a volume of 4621634 shares. The stock had previously closed at $180.42.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ACN has been the subject of several research reports. HSBC cut their price target on Accenture from $220.00 to $210.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 14th. Piper Sandler set a $282.00 price target on Accenture in a research note on Thursday, March 5th. Royal Bank Of Canada cut their price target on Accenture from $295.00 to $253.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, March 20th. BMO Capital Markets cut their price target on Accenture from $300.00 to $230.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, March 20th. Finally, Mizuho dropped their price objective on Accenture from $309.00 to $280.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, March 23rd. Seventeen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and ten have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Accenture currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $274.50.

Accenture Price Performance

The business has a fifty day moving average of $193.97 and a 200-day moving average of $233.54. The firm has a market cap of $114.73 billion, a PE ratio of 14.12, a PEG ratio of 1.71 and a beta of 1.08. The company has a current ratio of 1.34, a quick ratio of 1.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16.

Accenture (NYSE:ACN) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, March 20th. The information technology services provider reported $2.93 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.84 by $0.09. The business had revenue of $18.04 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $17.80 billion. Accenture had a return on equity of 26.33% and a net margin of 10.61%.The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 7.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $2.82 EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that Accenture PLC will post 13.87 earnings per share for the current year.

Accenture Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 9th will be issued a $1.63 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 9th. This represents a $6.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.8%. Accenture’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 53.40%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Accenture

In other Accenture news, CEO Atsushi Egawa sold 4,872 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $177.14, for a total value of $863,026.08. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 12,802 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,267,746.28. This trade represents a 27.57% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. 0.02% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Accenture

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Oslo Pensjonsforsikring AS purchased a new stake in shares of Accenture in the 1st quarter valued at about $762,000. Summit Global Investments raised its holdings in shares of Accenture by 121.0% in the 1st quarter. Summit Global Investments now owns 8,096 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $1,605,000 after acquiring an additional 4,432 shares in the last quarter. Johnson Financial Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Accenture by 2.4% in the 1st quarter. Johnson Financial Group Inc. now owns 20,764 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $4,117,000 after acquiring an additional 485 shares in the last quarter. Convergence Investment Partners LLC raised its holdings in shares of Accenture by 1,099.4% in the 1st quarter. Convergence Investment Partners LLC now owns 10,339 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $2,050,000 after acquiring an additional 9,477 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Commerzbank Aktiengesellschaft FI raised its holdings in shares of Accenture by 7.4% in the 1st quarter. Commerzbank Aktiengesellschaft FI now owns 62,959 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $12,484,000 after acquiring an additional 4,358 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.