Accenture PLC (NYSE:ACN) Given Average Rating of “Moderate Buy” by Brokerages

Shares of Accenture PLC (NYSE:ACN) have been assigned a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the twenty-eight ratings firms that are covering the company, Marketbeat.com reports. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have given a buy rating to the company. The average 12 month price target among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $274.8846.

ACN has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Mizuho dropped their price target on shares of Accenture from $309.00 to $280.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, March 23rd. Evercore reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $300.00 price target on shares of Accenture in a research report on Thursday, December 18th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on Accenture from $251.00 to $275.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 14th. Rothschild & Co Redburn upped their target price on Accenture from $205.00 to $210.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, January 5th. Finally, TD Cowen decreased their price target on Accenture from $282.00 to $275.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, March 16th.

Accenture Trading Down 0.1%

Shares of Accenture stock opened at $201.18 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a quick ratio of 1.34 and a current ratio of 1.34. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $217.22 and a 200-day moving average of $243.14. Accenture has a 52-week low of $187.00 and a 52-week high of $325.71. The stock has a market cap of $133.87 billion, a PE ratio of 16.48, a PEG ratio of 1.91 and a beta of 1.24.

Accenture (NYSE:ACN) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, March 20th. The information technology services provider reported $2.93 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.84 by $0.09. The business had revenue of $18.04 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $17.80 billion. Accenture had a net margin of 10.61% and a return on equity of 26.33%. Accenture’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $2.82 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Accenture will post 12.73 EPS for the current year.

Accenture Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 9th will be issued a $1.63 dividend. This represents a $6.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 9th. Accenture’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 53.40%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Accenture news, insider Manish Sharma sold 2,731 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $288.13, for a total transaction of $786,883.03. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 7,057 shares in the company, valued at $2,033,333.41. The trade was a 27.90% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CAO Melissa A. Burgum sold 3,588 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, January 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $281.01, for a total value of $1,008,263.88. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer owned 8,179 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,298,380.79. The trade was a 30.49% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 22,088 shares of company stock worth $5,970,434. 0.02% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Accenture

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Accenture during the fourth quarter worth about $2,146,995,000. Capital International Investors grew its holdings in shares of Accenture by 41.1% during the 3rd quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 17,128,134 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $4,223,839,000 after purchasing an additional 4,984,930 shares during the last quarter. Voloridge Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in Accenture during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $311,694,000. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its stake in Accenture by 12.8% in the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 10,147,796 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $2,502,446,000 after purchasing an additional 1,148,970 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its stake in Accenture by 15.9% in the 4th quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 8,173,338 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $2,192,907,000 after purchasing an additional 1,122,855 shares during the last quarter. 75.14% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Accenture Company Profile

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.