Accenture (NYSE:ACN) PT Raised to $388.00 at Bank of America

by · The Cerbat Gem

Accenture (NYSE:ACN – Free Report) had its price objective increased by Bank of America from $365.00 to $388.00 in a report issued on Friday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a buy rating on the information technology services provider’s stock.

A number of other equities research analysts have also commented on the company. Piper Sandler raised Accenture from a neutral rating to an overweight rating and raised their price target for the stock from $329.00 to $395.00 in a research report on Thursday. Mizuho raised their price target on Accenture from $352.00 to $365.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 18th. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price target on Accenture from $395.00 to $340.00 and set a buy rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, June 12th. Piper Sandler Companies reaffirmed a neutral rating and set a $329.00 price target on shares of Accenture in a research report on Friday, September 20th. Finally, Wedbush dropped their price target on Accenture from $400.00 to $350.00 and set an outperform rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, June 12th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $364.64.

Get Our Latest Stock Analysis on Accenture

Accenture Trading Down 1.7 %

NYSE:ACN opened at $349.70 on Friday. Accenture has a 1-year low of $278.69 and a 1-year high of $387.51. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $333.92 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $320.40. The firm has a market capitalization of $219.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.02, a PEG ratio of 3.69 and a beta of 1.24.

Accenture (NYSE:ACN – Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, September 26th. The information technology services provider reported $2.79 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.78 by $0.01. Accenture had a return on equity of 27.48% and a net margin of 10.79%. The firm had revenue of $16.41 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.37 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $2.71 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 2.6% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts predict that Accenture will post 11.95 earnings per share for the current year.

Accenture Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, October 10th will be paid a $1.48 dividend. This represents a $5.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.69%. This is an increase from Accenture’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.29. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, October 10th. Accenture’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 47.25%.

Accenture declared that its board has authorized a share buyback plan on Thursday, September 26th that authorizes the company to repurchase $4.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the information technology services provider to purchase up to 1.8% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are typically an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling at Accenture

In other news, insider Ellyn Shook sold 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $329.82, for a total value of $1,649,100.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 8,989 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,964,751.98. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In related news, General Counsel Joel Unruch sold 8,145 shares of Accenture stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $331.05, for a total transaction of $2,696,402.25. Following the completion of the sale, the general counsel now directly owns 22,849 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,564,161.45. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Ellyn Shook sold 5,000 shares of Accenture stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $329.82, for a total value of $1,649,100.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 8,989 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,964,751.98. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 21,421 shares of company stock worth $6,912,635 over the last ninety days. 0.07% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Accenture

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in ACN. Pin Oak Investment Advisors Inc. grew its stake in shares of Accenture by 8.2% in the fourth quarter. Pin Oak Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 357 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $125,000 after purchasing an additional 27 shares during the last quarter. Kolinsky Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Accenture by 1.0% in the fourth quarter. Kolinsky Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,888 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $1,013,000 after purchasing an additional 30 shares during the last quarter. Walled Lake Planning & Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Accenture by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. Walled Lake Planning & Wealth Management LLC now owns 11,740 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $4,120,000 after purchasing an additional 32 shares during the last quarter. West Paces Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in Accenture by 10.2% in the first quarter. West Paces Advisors Inc. now owns 346 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $120,000 after buying an additional 32 shares during the period. Finally, Tsfg LLC lifted its holdings in Accenture by 31.1% in the second quarter. Tsfg LLC now owns 135 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $41,000 after buying an additional 32 shares during the period. 75.14% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Accenture Company Profile

(Get Free Report)

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.

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