Susquehanna Raises Accenture (NYSE:ACN) Price Target to $360.00

Accenture (NYSE:ACN) had its price objective increased by Susquehanna from $350.00 to $360.00 in a research note published on Friday morning, Benzinga reports. Susquehanna currently has a neutral rating on the information technology services provider’s stock.

A number of other equities analysts also recently weighed in on the stock. Morgan Stanley downgraded shares of Accenture from an overweight rating to an equal weight rating and cut their price target for the stock from $382.00 to $300.00 in a report on Wednesday, June 26th. Bank of America reduced their target price on shares of Accenture from $419.00 to $365.00 and set a buy rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, June 5th. Barclays lowered their price target on shares of Accenture from $390.00 to $350.00 and set an overweight rating on the stock in a report on Monday, June 17th. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their target price on Accenture from $340.00 to $275.00 and set a hold rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, June 5th. Finally, UBS Group raised Accenture from a neutral rating to a buy rating and set a $400.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Friday, July 19th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Accenture has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $371.18.

Accenture Price Performance

Shares of ACN stock opened at $353.33 on Friday. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $334.35 and a 200-day moving average of $320.23. Accenture has a one year low of $278.69 and a one year high of $387.51. The company has a market cap of $221.43 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.36, a P/E/G ratio of 3.69 and a beta of 1.24.

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

Accenture announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock buyback program on Thursday, September 26th that permits the company to buyback $4.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the information technology services provider to reacquire up to 1.8% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are usually an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Accenture Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, October 10th will be given a $1.48 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, October 10th. This is a positive change from Accenture’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.29. This represents a $5.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.68%. Accenture’s payout ratio is 47.25%.

Insider Transactions at Accenture

In other Accenture news, insider Ellyn Shook sold 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $329.82, for a total value of $1,649,100.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 8,989 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,964,751.98. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In related news, CFO Kathleen R. Mcclure sold 3,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, July 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $309.22, for a total value 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 sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Ellyn Shook sold 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $329.82, for a total transaction of $1,649,100.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 8,989 shares in the company, valued at $2,964,751.98. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 21,421 shares of company stock worth $6,912,635. 0.07% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Accenture

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of ACN. Unique Wealth Strategies LLC bought a new stake in shares of Accenture during the second quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Annapolis Financial Services LLC lifted 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 buying an additional 66 shares during the period. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Accenture in the 2nd quarter worth about $28,000. Ables Iannone Moore & Associates Inc. bought a new position in shares of Accenture in the 4th quarter worth about $29,000. Finally, Atwood & Palmer Inc. lifted its position in Accenture by 214.8% during the 1st quarter. Atwood & Palmer Inc. now owns 85 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 58 shares during the period. 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.