Brokerages Set Accenture PLC (NYSE:ACN) Price Target at $192.96

Shares of Accenture PLC (NYSE:ACN) have earned a consensus recommendation of “Hold” from the twenty-seven ratings firms that are covering the stock, Marketbeat Ratings reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, fourteen have given a hold recommendation and twelve have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month target price among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $192.9630.

ACN has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Guggenheim dropped their price objective on shares of Accenture from $225.00 to $185.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, June 22nd. Truist Financial reduced their target price on Accenture from $210.00 to $150.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, June 22nd. Mizuho dropped their price target on Accenture from $280.00 to $226.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, June 23rd. Oppenheimer set a $201.00 price objective on Accenture in a report on Monday, June 8th. Finally, Citigroup reduced their price objective on Accenture from $215.00 to $195.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, June 1st.

Accenture Stock Down 0.1%

Shares of Accenture stock opened at $175.49 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.34, a current ratio of 1.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15. The company has a market cap of $117.20 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.02, a PEG ratio of 1.82 and a beta of 1.09. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $151.64 and its 200-day moving average price is $186.45. Accenture has a 52-week low of $118.15 and a 52-week high of $291.09.

Accenture (NYSE:ACN) last announced its earnings results on Friday, June 19th. The information technology services provider reported $3.80 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.70 by $0.10. Accenture had a return on equity of 26.47% and a net margin of 10.66%.The firm had revenue of $18.72 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $18.78 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $3.49 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Accenture will post 13.85 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Accenture Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 14th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, July 9th will be paid a dividend of $1.63 per share. This represents a $6.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.7%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, July 9th. Accenture’s payout ratio is presently 52.08%.

Accenture announced that its Board of Directors has approved a stock repurchase plan on Tuesday, June 23rd that allows the company to buyback $2.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the information technology services provider to purchase up to 2.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are generally an indication that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling at Accenture

In other news, General Counsel Joel Unruch sold 10,498 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $162.98, for a total value of $1,710,964.04. Following the completion of the transaction, the general counsel owned 17,735 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,890,450.30. The trade was a 37.18% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. 0.02% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Accenture

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Foster & Motley Inc. purchased a new stake in Accenture during the second quarter worth $2,628,000. Commerzbank Aktiengesellschaft FI purchased a new stake in shares of Accenture during the 2nd quarter worth about $11,183,000. Trust Co. of Vermont acquired a new stake in shares of Accenture during the 2nd quarter valued at about $4,996,000. Plato Investment Management Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Accenture during the 2nd quarter valued at about $4,626,000. Finally, Diamond Hill Capital Management LLC Investment Advisor purchased a new position in shares of Accenture in the 2nd quarter valued at about $75,834,000. 75.14% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.