Accenture (NYSE:ACN) Upgraded at TD Cowen

Accenture (NYSE:ACN) was upgraded by equities research analysts at TD Cowen from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report released on Monday, Marketbeat.com reports. The firm currently has a $400.00 price target on the information technology services provider’s stock, up from their previous price target of $321.00. TD Cowen’s price target points to a potential upside of 13.62% from the company’s current price.

Other equities analysts have also issued research reports about the stock. Wedbush lowered their price target on shares of Accenture from $400.00 to $350.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, June 12th. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their price target on shares of Accenture from $340.00 to $275.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, June 5th. Piper Sandler raised Accenture from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $329.00 to $395.00 in a report on Thursday, September 26th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on Accenture from $376.00 to $370.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, September 24th. Finally, Susquehanna lifted their target price on Accenture from $350.00 to $360.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, September 27th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $371.18.

Accenture Stock Down 0.4 %

ACN opened at $352.04 on Monday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $334.79 and its 200 day moving average price is $320.07. Accenture has a fifty-two week low of $278.69 and a fifty-two week high of $387.51. The firm has a market cap of $220.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.24, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.69 and a beta of 1.24.

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

Accenture announced that its Board of Directors has approved a share repurchase plan on Thursday, September 26th that authorizes the company to buyback $4.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the information technology services provider to reacquire up to 1.8% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are often a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Transactions at Accenture

In related news, General Counsel Joel Unruch sold 8,145 shares of Accenture stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $331.05, for a total value of $2,696,402.25. Following the transaction, the general counsel now owns 22,849 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,564,161.45. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, CFO Kathleen R. Mcclure sold 1,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, July 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $315.00, for a total value of $472,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 38,570 shares in the company, valued at $12,149,550. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, General Counsel Joel Unruch sold 8,145 shares of Accenture stock in a transaction on Monday, July 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $331.05, for a total value of $2,696,402.25. Following the transaction, the general counsel now owns 22,849 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,564,161.45. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 21,421 shares of company stock valued at $6,912,635 in the last three months. 0.07% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Accenture

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Annapolis Financial Services LLC boosted its position in Accenture by 507.7% during the first quarter. Annapolis Financial Services LLC now owns 79 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 66 shares during the last quarter. Ables Iannone Moore & Associates Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Accenture during the 4th quarter valued at about $29,000. Atwood & Palmer Inc. increased its holdings in Accenture by 214.8% in 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 last quarter. Unique Wealth Strategies LLC acquired a new position in Accenture in the 2nd quarter valued at $26,000. Finally, Grayhawk Investment Strategies Inc. acquired a new position in Accenture during the 4th quarter worth $35,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.14% of the company’s stock.

About Accenture

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.