UBS Group Boosts Accenture (NYSE:ACN) Price Target to $415.00

by · The Cerbat Gem

Accenture (NYSE:ACN – Free Report) had its price target increased by UBS Group from $400.00 to $415.00 in a research note published on Friday morning, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a buy rating on the information technology services provider’s stock.

Several other equities research analysts have also weighed in on the stock. Bank of America upped their target price on shares of Accenture from $365.00 to $388.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a report on Friday. Barclays decreased their price objective on shares of Accenture from $390.00 to $350.00 and set an overweight rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, June 17th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on Accenture from $376.00 to $370.00 and set an overweight rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, September 24th. Piper Sandler upgraded Accenture from a neutral rating to an overweight rating and increased their price target for the stock from $329.00 to $395.00 in a research report on Thursday. Finally, TD Cowen boosted their price objective on Accenture from $293.00 to $321.00 and gave the stock a hold rating in a research note on Thursday, September 12th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Accenture currently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $364.64.

View Our Latest Report on ACN

Accenture Stock Down 1.7 %

NYSE ACN opened at $349.70 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $219.15 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.02, a PEG ratio of 3.69 and a beta of 1.24. Accenture has a twelve month low of $278.69 and a twelve month high of $387.51. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $333.92 and its 200 day simple moving average is $320.40.

Accenture (NYSE:ACN – Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, September 26th. The information technology services provider reported $2.79 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.78 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $16.41 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $16.37 billion. Accenture had a return on equity of 27.48% and a net margin of 10.79%. Accenture’s quarterly revenue was up 2.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $2.71 EPS. Research analysts anticipate that Accenture will post 11.95 earnings per share for the current year.

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 outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the information technology services provider to reacquire up to 1.8% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are often an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Accenture Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, October 10th will be issued a dividend of $1.48 per share. This represents a $5.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.69%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, October 10th. This is a positive change from Accenture’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.29. Accenture’s payout ratio is currently 47.25%.

Insider Transactions at Accenture

In related news, insider Ellyn Shook sold 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 owns 8,989 shares in the company, valued at $2,964,751.98. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, insider Ellyn Shook sold 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $329.82, for a total transaction of $1,649,100.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 8,989 shares in the company, valued at $2,964,751.98. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, General Counsel Joel Unruch sold 8,145 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 owns 22,849 shares in the company, valued at $7,564,161.45. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 21,421 shares of company stock worth $6,912,635 in the last three months. Insiders own 0.07% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Accenture

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of ACN. Annapolis Financial Services LLC raised its holdings in shares of Accenture by 507.7% during the first quarter. Annapolis Financial Services LLC now owns 79 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $27,000 after acquiring an additional 66 shares during the period. Ables Iannone Moore & Associates Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Accenture in the fourth quarter valued at about $29,000. Atwood & Palmer Inc. boosted its position in shares of Accenture by 214.8% during the first quarter. Atwood & Palmer Inc. now owns 85 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 58 shares during the period. Unique Wealth Strategies LLC bought a new position in shares of Accenture during the second quarter worth about $26,000. Finally, Grayhawk Investment Strategies Inc. acquired a new stake in Accenture in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $35,000. 75.14% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About Accenture

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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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