Accenture PLC (NYSE:ACN) Receives Average Rating of “Moderate Buy” from Brokerages

Accenture PLC (NYSE:ACN) has received an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the twenty-eight brokerages that are presently covering the firm, MarketBeat reports. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average twelve-month price target among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $274.8846.

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Robert W. Baird decreased their price target on Accenture from $330.00 to $265.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, March 20th. Argus decreased their target price on Accenture from $370.00 to $335.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Wolfe Research raised their target price on Accenture from $300.00 to $330.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 11th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on Accenture from $251.00 to $275.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 14th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased their target price on Accenture from $280.00 to $230.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, March 6th.

Insider Buying and Selling at Accenture

In related news, CAO Melissa A. Burgum sold 3,588 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $281.01, for a total transaction of $1,008,263.88. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer owned 8,179 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,298,380.79. This trade represents a 30.49% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Julie Spellman Sweet sold 6,057 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $241.23, for a total value of $1,461,130.11. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 15,255 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,679,963.65. This represents a 28.42% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold a total of 20,256 shares of company stock valued at $5,464,134 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.02% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Accenture

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in ACN. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Accenture in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $2,146,995,000. Capital International Investors grew its stake in Accenture by 41.1% in the third quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 17,128,134 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $4,223,839,000 after acquiring an additional 4,984,930 shares during the period. Voloridge Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in Accenture in the third quarter valued at approximately $311,694,000. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its stake in Accenture by 12.8% in the third quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 10,147,796 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $2,502,446,000 after acquiring an additional 1,148,970 shares during the period. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. grew its stake in Accenture by 15.9% in the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 8,173,338 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $2,192,907,000 after acquiring an additional 1,122,855 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.14% of the company’s stock.

Accenture Trading Down 1.7%

Shares of ACN stock opened at $193.92 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $129.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.88, a PEG ratio of 1.91 and a beta of 1.24. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $212.48 and a 200-day moving average of $242.27. The company has a current ratio of 1.34, a quick ratio of 1.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. Accenture has a 1-year low of $187.00 and a 1-year high of $325.71.

Accenture (NYSE:ACN) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, March 20th. The information technology services provider reported $2.93 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.84 by $0.09. The company had revenue of $18.04 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $17.80 billion. Accenture had a return on equity of 26.33% and a net margin of 10.61%.The business’s quarterly revenue was up 7.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $2.82 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Accenture will post 12.73 earnings per share for the current year.

Accenture Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, April 9th will be paid a dividend of $1.63 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 9th. This represents a $6.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.4%. Accenture’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 53.40%.

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.