Accenture (NYSE:ACN) Price Target Raised to $370.00

Accenture (NYSE:ACN) had its target price hoisted by Robert W. Baird from $350.00 to $370.00 in a research note released on Friday, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a neutral rating on the information technology services provider’s stock.

Several other research firms also recently issued reports on ACN. BMO Capital Markets decreased their price objective on shares of Accenture from $375.00 to $350.00 and set a market perform rating for the company in a report on Friday, June 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on shares of Accenture from $376.00 to $370.00 and set an overweight rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, September 24th. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their target price 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. Susquehanna raised their target price on shares of Accenture from $350.00 to $360.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a report on Friday. Finally, Bank of America lifted their price objective on shares of Accenture from $365.00 to $388.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a report on Friday. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $364.64.

Accenture Trading Down 1.7 %

Accenture stock opened at $349.70 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $219.15 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.02, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.69 and a beta of 1.24. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $333.92 and a 200-day moving average of $320.40. Accenture has a 52 week low of $278.69 and a 52 week high of $387.51.

Accenture (NYSE:ACN) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, September 26th. The information technology services provider reported $2.79 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.78 by $0.01. Accenture had a return on equity of 27.48% and a net margin of 10.79%. The firm had revenue of $16.41 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.37 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.71 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts predict that Accenture will post 11.95 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Accenture declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share buyback 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 usually a sign that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Accenture Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, October 10th will be paid a $1.48 dividend. This is a boost from Accenture’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.29. This represents a $5.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.69%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, October 10th. Accenture’s payout ratio is 47.25%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Accenture

In other news, CFO Kathleen R. Mcclure sold 3,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, July 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $309.22, for a total value of $927,660.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 40,070 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $12,390,445.40. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In related news, CEO Julie Spellman Sweet sold 3,776 shares of Accenture stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $309.05, for a total value of $1,166,972.80. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 11,819 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,652,661.95. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CFO Kathleen R. Mcclure sold 3,000 shares of Accenture stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $309.22, for a total transaction of $927,660.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 40,070 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $12,390,445.40. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 21,421 shares of company stock valued at $6,912,635 over the last 90 days. 0.07% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Accenture

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in ACN. Annapolis Financial Services LLC increased its holdings in Accenture by 507.7% in the 1st quarter. Annapolis Financial Services LLC now owns 79 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $27,000 after acquiring an additional 66 shares in the last quarter. Ables Iannone Moore & Associates Inc. acquired a new stake in Accenture during the 4th quarter worth $29,000. Atwood & Palmer Inc. boosted its stake in Accenture by 214.8% during the 1st quarter. Atwood & Palmer Inc. now owns 85 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 58 shares during the last quarter. Unique Wealth Strategies LLC acquired a new stake in Accenture during the 2nd quarter worth $26,000. Finally, Grayhawk Investment Strategies Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Accenture during the 4th quarter valued at about $35,000. 75.14% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.