Royal Bank Of Canada Lowers Accenture (NYSE:ACN) Price Target to $253.00

Accenture (NYSE:ACN) had its target price cut by stock analysts at Royal Bank Of Canada from $295.00 to $253.00 in a research note issued on Friday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an “outperform” rating on the information technology services provider’s stock. Royal Bank Of Canada’s target price would suggest a potential upside of 26.24% from the company’s current price.

A number of other research analysts have also recently issued reports on the company. UBS Group reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Accenture in a report on Tuesday. Citigroup dropped their target price on shares of Accenture from $266.00 to $215.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 25th. Truist Financial cut their price target on shares of Accenture from $317.00 to $260.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, March 10th. Susquehanna boosted their price target on shares of Accenture from $270.00 to $277.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, December 19th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $330.00 price objective on shares of Accenture in a research note on Thursday, December 18th. Eighteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and ten have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $276.00.

Accenture Trading Down 1.5%

ACN stock opened at $200.41 on Friday. Accenture has a 1-year low of $187.00 and a 1-year high of $325.71. The company has a current ratio of 1.34, a quick ratio of 1.41 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. The business’s 50 day moving average is $234.38 and its 200-day moving average is $246.68. The firm has a market cap of $123.38 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.41, a P/E/G ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 1.27.

Accenture (NYSE:ACN) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, March 19th. The information technology services provider reported $2.93 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.84 by $0.09. The business had revenue of $18.04 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $17.80 billion. Accenture had a return on equity of 26.33% and a net margin of 10.61%.Accenture’s revenue was up 7.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $2.82 EPS. Equities analysts anticipate that Accenture will post 12.73 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Accenture

In other Accenture news, CEO John F. Walsh sold 3,986 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $276.38, for a total value of $1,101,650.68. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 27,221 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,523,339.98. The trade was a 12.77% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Julie Spellman Sweet sold 6,057 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $241.23, for a total transaction of $1,461,130.11. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 15,255 shares in the company, valued at $3,679,963.65. This trade represents a 28.42% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 22,088 shares of company stock worth $5,970,434. Corporate insiders own 0.02% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Accenture

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in Accenture by 1.3% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 66,070,930 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $17,726,831,000 after purchasing an additional 854,361 shares during the period. State Street Corp lifted its position in Accenture by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 28,264,675 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $7,583,462,000 after purchasing an additional 129,610 shares during the period. Capital International Investors boosted its stake in shares of Accenture by 2.0% in the 4th quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 17,471,554 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $4,687,867,000 after purchasing an additional 343,420 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Accenture by 1.5% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 14,656,436 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $3,922,212,000 after purchasing an additional 218,719 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its position in shares of Accenture by 5.4% during the 4th quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 10,693,994 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $2,869,199,000 after buying an additional 546,198 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 75.14% of the company’s stock.

Key Stories Impacting Accenture

Here are the key news stories impacting Accenture this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Q2 beat and record bookings — Accenture reported EPS and revenue above expectations and said bookings remain strong, driven by AI and cloud demand; that underpins longer-term growth potential. BusinessWire: Q2 Results
• Positive Sentiment: Strategic partnerships and product wins — New collaborations (notably with Microsoft on agentic security) and ongoing AI initiatives support deal pipeline and cross-sell opportunities. BusinessWire: Microsoft Collaboration
• Positive Sentiment: Shareholder returns — Board announced a quarterly dividend (ex-dividend April 9) reinforcing cash return policy and yielding ~3.2%, which can support investor demand for the stock.
• Neutral Sentiment: Selective analyst upgrades — HSBC moved to “hold” with a $220 target and a few firms maintain outperform/buy ratings even as they trim targets; sentiment among sell‑side analysts is mixed. Finviz: HSBC Upgrade
• Negative Sentiment: Multiple price-target cuts — Several brokers trimmed targets (BMO to $230, RBC to $253, Guggenheim to $250, Robert W. Baird to $265) after the quarter, increasing near‑term downside perception despite differing ratings. Benzinga: Analyst Moves TickerReport
• Negative Sentiment: Cautious revenue outlook — Management’s near-term revenue guidance came in below some Street expectations and the company warned of client caution on large IT transformation spending, which is the key driver of today’s weakness. Reuters: Revenue Forecast
• Negative Sentiment: Analyst downward revisions and stock reaction — Several analysts cut earnings/forecasts after the print and the stock is declining on higher-than-normal volume, reflecting profit‑taking and concern about near‑term execution and AI disruption risks. Benzinga: Forecast Cuts

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.