Brokerages Set Accenture PLC (NYSE:ACN) PT at $194.19

Shares of Accenture PLC (NYSE:ACN) have received a consensus rating of “Hold” from the twenty-seven research firms that are currently covering the stock, MarketBeat reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have given a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 1-year price objective among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $194.1852.

ACN has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Oppenheimer set a $201.00 target price on shares of Accenture in a research note on Monday, June 8th. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on Accenture from $177.00 to $130.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, June 22nd. William Blair cut Accenture from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, June 18th. Robert W. Baird set a $190.00 target price on Accenture in a research note on Thursday, June 18th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada reduced their target price on Accenture from $253.00 to $175.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, June 22nd.

Accenture Stock Performance

Shares of Accenture stock opened at $186.53 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $124.57 billion, a PE ratio of 14.90, a P/E/G ratio of 1.50 and a beta of 1.10. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $163.15 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $176.29. Accenture has a one year low of $118.15 and a one year high of $291.09. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a quick ratio of 1.34 and a current ratio of 1.34.

Accenture (NYSE:ACN) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, June 19th. The information technology services provider reported $3.80 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.70 by $0.10. The business had revenue of $18.72 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $18.78 billion. Accenture had a net margin of 10.66% and a return on equity of 26.47%. The company’s revenue was up 5.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned $3.49 EPS. Research analysts expect that Accenture will post 13.86 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Accenture declared that its board has initiated a stock buyback plan on Tuesday, June 23rd that authorizes the company to buyback $2.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the information technology services provider to reacquire up to 2.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are usually an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Accenture Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 14th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, July 9th were issued 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 3.5%. Accenture’s dividend payout ratio is 52.08%.

Insider Activity at Accenture

In related news, General Counsel Joel Unruch sold 10,498 shares of Accenture stock in a transaction that occurred 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 $2,890,450.30. This trade represents a 37.18% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, 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 owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Holt Capital Advisors L.L.C. dba Holt Capital Partners L.P. increased its position in shares of Accenture by 0.9% in the 3rd quarter. Holt Capital Advisors L.L.C. dba Holt Capital Partners L.P. now owns 4,416 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $1,089,000 after acquiring an additional 41 shares during the period. Peak Asset Management LLC grew its stake in Accenture by 0.8% during the 4th quarter. Peak Asset Management LLC now owns 5,447 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $1,461,000 after purchasing an additional 43 shares during the last quarter. SkyView Investment Advisors LLC grew its stake in Accenture by 1.2% during the 2nd quarter. SkyView Investment Advisors LLC now owns 3,751 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $1,108,000 after purchasing an additional 43 shares during the last quarter. Intrua Financial LLC increased its holdings in shares of Accenture by 3.3% in the fourth quarter. Intrua Financial LLC now owns 1,442 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $387,000 after purchasing an additional 46 shares during the period. Finally, Hazlett Burt & Watson Inc. raised its stake in shares of Accenture by 10.0% in the fourth quarter. Hazlett Burt & Watson Inc. now owns 516 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $139,000 after purchasing an additional 47 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.14% of the company’s stock.

Accenture Company Profile

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.