Accenture (NYSE:ACN) Shares Gap Down – What’s Next?

Accenture PLC (NYSE:ACN)’s stock price gapped down prior to trading on Tuesday . The stock had previously closed at $266.79, but opened at $249.44. Accenture shares last traded at $248.2010, with a volume of 854,462 shares.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

ACN has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Jefferies Financial Group raised their target price on shares of Accenture from $270.00 to $280.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, January 8th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of Accenture from $251.00 to $275.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 14th. HSBC upped their target price on shares of Accenture from $215.00 to $235.00 in a research report on Friday, December 19th. TD Cowen boosted their price objective on Accenture from $295.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, December 19th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Accenture in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Sixteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Accenture has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $298.38.

Accenture Price Performance

The stock has a 50 day moving average of $270.97 and a 200-day moving average of $257.60. The stock has a market capitalization of $147.43 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.82, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.54 and a beta of 1.25. The company has a current ratio of 1.41, a quick ratio of 1.41 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16.

Accenture (NYSE:ACN) last released its earnings results 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 return on equity of 26.65% and a net margin of 10.76%.The business had revenue of $18.74 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $18.51 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $3.59 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Accenture has set its FY 2026 guidance at 13.520-13.900 EPS. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Accenture PLC will post 12.73 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Accenture Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 13th. Investors of record on Tuesday, January 13th will be paid a $1.63 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, January 13th. This represents a $6.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.7%. Accenture’s dividend payout ratio is 53.88%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Accenture

In other Accenture news, CAO Melissa A. Burgum sold 3,588 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, January 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $281.01, for a total value of $1,008,263.88. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 8,179 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,298,380.79. This represents a 30.49% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, COO Catherine Kiernan Hogan sold 660 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, January 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $280.93, for a total value of $185,413.80. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer owned 12,688 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,564,439.84. This represents a 4.94% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold a total of 21,934 shares of company stock worth $5,965,166 over the last quarter. Insiders own 0.02% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in Accenture by 1.3% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 66,070,930 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $17,726,831,000 after acquiring an additional 854,361 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its stake in Accenture by 0.4% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 28,135,065 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $6,938,156,000 after acquiring an additional 118,460 shares during the last quarter. Capital International Investors lifted its holdings in shares of Accenture by 41.1% during the third quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 17,128,134 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $4,223,839,000 after purchasing an additional 4,984,930 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Accenture by 1.1% in the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 14,042,843 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $4,182,331,000 after acquiring an additional 147,931 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its position in Accenture by 5.4% during the 4th quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 10,693,994 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $2,869,199,000 after purchasing an additional 546,198 shares during the period. 75.14% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.