Accenture (NYSE:ACN) Given New $321.00 Price Target at TD Cowen

Accenture (NYSE:ACN) had its price objective upped by TD Cowen from $293.00 to $321.00 in a report published on Thursday morning, Benzinga reports. They currently have a hold rating on the information technology services provider’s stock.

Other research analysts also recently issued reports about the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group assumed coverage on shares of Accenture in a research note on Monday, June 24th. They set a neutral rating and a $335.00 price target on the stock. Morgan Stanley downgraded shares of Accenture from an overweight rating to an equal weight rating and lowered their price target for the stock from $382.00 to $300.00 in a research note on Wednesday, June 26th. Mizuho reduced their price objective on Accenture from $398.00 to $350.00 and set a buy rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, June 18th. Guggenheim reissued a buy rating and issued a $395.00 target price on shares of Accenture in a research note on Friday, May 24th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets reduced their price target on Accenture from $375.00 to $350.00 and set a market perform rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, June 21st. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $354.68.

Accenture Stock Performance

NYSE ACN opened at $349.58 on Thursday. Accenture has a 52-week low of $278.69 and a 52-week high of $387.51. The company has a fifty day moving average of $328.08 and a 200-day moving average of $323.04. The company has a market capitalization of $219.08 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.01, a P/E/G ratio of 3.82 and a beta of 1.24.

Accenture (NYSE:ACN) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, June 20th. The information technology services provider reported $3.13 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $3.15 by ($0.02). The firm had revenue of $16.47 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $16.55 billion. Accenture had a return on equity of 27.48% and a net margin of 10.79%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down .6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $3.19 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that Accenture will post 11.95 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Accenture Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, July 11th were paid a $1.29 dividend. This represents a $5.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.48%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, July 11th. Accenture’s payout ratio is currently 47.25%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Accenture

In other news, General Counsel Joel Unruch sold 8,145 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 completion of 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 filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other news, CEO Julie Spellman Sweet sold 3,776 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 11,819 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,652,661.95. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, General Counsel Joel Unruch sold 8,145 shares of Accenture stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $331.05, for a total transaction of $2,696,402.25. Following the transaction, the general counsel now directly owns 22,849 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,564,161.45. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 21,421 shares of company stock valued at $6,912,635. 0.07% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Accenture

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Accretive Wealth Partners LLC boosted its holdings in Accenture by 2.3% in the fourth quarter. Accretive Wealth Partners LLC now owns 2,171 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $762,000 after acquiring an additional 48 shares in the last quarter. Aveo Capital Partners LLC boosted its stake in Accenture by 7.6% in the 4th quarter. Aveo Capital Partners LLC now owns 2,264 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $794,000 after purchasing an additional 160 shares in the last quarter. 9258 Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in Accenture by 3.6% during the 4th quarter. 9258 Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,308 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $459,000 after purchasing an additional 46 shares in the last quarter. Gryphon Financial Partners LLC raised its holdings in Accenture by 79.5% in the fourth quarter. Gryphon Financial Partners LLC now owns 2,535 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $881,000 after buying an additional 1,123 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Jump Financial LLC lifted its stake in shares of Accenture by 206.0% in the fourth quarter. Jump Financial LLC now owns 2,806 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $985,000 after buying an additional 1,889 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 75.14% of the company’s stock.

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.