Accenture (NYSE:ACN) Downgraded to “Neutral” Rating by BNP Paribas

BNP Paribas lowered shares of Accenture (NYSE:ACN) from an outperform rating to a neutral rating in a report released on Wednesday, Marketbeat.com reports. BNP Paribas currently has $375.00 price target on the information technology services provider’s stock.

Several other research analysts also recently weighed in on the company. TD Cowen raised Accenture from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their target price for the company from $321.00 to $400.00 in a research report on Monday, September 30th. Mizuho lifted their target price on shares of Accenture from $352.00 to $365.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 18th. Guggenheim upped their price target on shares of Accenture from $380.00 to $395.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, September 27th. Piper Sandler upgraded shares of Accenture from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $329.00 to $395.00 in a research note on Thursday, September 26th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered Accenture from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $368.23.

Accenture Stock Performance

Shares of Accenture stock opened at $345.67 on Wednesday. Accenture has a one year low of $278.69 and a one year high of $387.51. The company has a market capitalization of $216.10 billion, a PE ratio of 30.24, a P/E/G ratio of 3.03 and a beta of 1.25. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $352.34 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $324.05.

Accenture (NYSE:ACN) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, September 26th. The information technology services provider reported $2.79 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.78 by $0.01. Accenture had a net margin of 11.20% and a return on equity of 26.83%. The company had revenue of $16.41 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $16.37 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $2.71 earnings per share. Accenture’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts predict that Accenture will post 12.77 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Accenture declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a share repurchase program on Thursday, September 26th that permits the company to repurchase $4.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the information technology services provider to buy up to 1.8% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are typically an indication that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Accenture Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, October 10th will be given a dividend of $1.48 per share. This represents a $5.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.71%. 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 dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 51.79%.

Insider Transactions at Accenture

In related news, CEO Julie Spellman Sweet sold 8,136 shares of Accenture stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $362.07, for a total value of $2,945,801.52. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 12,188 shares in the company, valued at $4,412,909.16. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, CEO Julie Spellman Sweet sold 8,136 shares of Accenture stock in a transaction on Monday, October 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $362.07, for a total value of $2,945,801.52. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 12,188 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,412,909.16. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Angela Beatty sold 673 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $372.18, for a total transaction of $250,477.14. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 5,650 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,102,817. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 33,107 shares of company stock valued at $12,275,914 in the last ninety days. 0.07% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Accenture

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of ACN. Unique Wealth Strategies LLC acquired a new stake in Accenture during the second quarter worth about $26,000. Mowery & Schoenfeld Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in Accenture by 607.1% during the third quarter. Mowery & Schoenfeld Wealth Management LLC now owns 99 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 85 shares during the period. CarsonAllaria Wealth Management Ltd. purchased a new position in Accenture in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Creekmur Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in Accenture by 108.0% during the 1st quarter. Creekmur Asset Management LLC now owns 104 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $36,000 after purchasing an additional 54 shares during the period. Finally, Chilton Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Accenture by 57.1% during the first quarter. Chilton Capital Management LLC now owns 110 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $38,000 after buying an additional 40 shares during the period. 75.14% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Accenture Company Profile

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.