Truist Financial Issues Pessimistic Forecast for Accenture (NYSE:ACN) Stock Price

Accenture (NYSE:ACN) had its price target cut by investment analysts at Truist Financial from $317.00 to $260.00 in a report issued on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a “buy” rating on the information technology services provider’s stock. Truist Financial’s target price suggests a potential upside of 24.30% from the company’s previous close.

Several other research analysts also recently weighed in on the stock. Guggenheim upped their price objective on shares of Accenture from $285.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, December 15th. UBS Group lowered Accenture from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 22nd. Piper Sandler set a $282.00 target price on Accenture in a research note on Thursday, March 5th. HSBC boosted their target price on shares of Accenture from $215.00 to $235.00 in a research note on Friday, December 19th. Finally, Evercore restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $300.00 target price on shares of Accenture in a research note on Thursday, December 18th. Sixteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eleven have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $289.50.

Accenture Price Performance

Shares of Accenture stock opened at $209.18 on Tuesday. Accenture has a fifty-two week low of $188.73 and a fifty-two week high of $339.90. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $247.40 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $250.32. The company has a market cap of $128.77 billion, a PE ratio of 17.29, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.07 and a beta of 1.28. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 1.41 and a quick ratio of 1.41.

Accenture (NYSE:ACN) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, December 18th. The information technology services provider reported $3.94 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.73 by $0.21. Accenture had a net margin of 10.76% and a return on equity of 26.65%. The business had revenue of $18.74 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $18.51 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $3.59 earnings per share. Accenture’s revenue was up 5.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Accenture has set its FY 2026 guidance at 13.520-13.900 EPS. Analysts expect that Accenture will post 12.73 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Accenture

In other Accenture news, COO Catherine Kiernan Hogan sold 660 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, January 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $280.93, for a total transaction of $185,413.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer owned 12,688 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,564,439.84. The trade was a 4.94% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO John F. Walsh sold 3,986 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $276.38, for a total transaction of $1,101,650.68. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 27,221 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,523,339.98. This represents a 12.77% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 22,088 shares of company stock worth $5,970,434. 0.02% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Board of the Pension Protection Fund acquired a new position in shares of Accenture during the fourth quarter worth approximately $27,000. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in Accenture during the fourth quarter valued at $27,000. McMillan Office Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Accenture during the fourth quarter valued at $27,000. University of Texas Texas AM Investment Management Co. purchased a new position in Accenture during the 4th quarter worth approximately $27,000. Finally, Investors Research Corp increased its stake in shares of Accenture by 73.8% in the 3rd quarter. Investors Research Corp now owns 106 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 45 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.