Accenture PLC (NYSE:ACN) Given Consensus Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by Brokerages

Accenture PLC (NYSE:ACN) has received an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the twenty-seven ratings firms that are covering the company, Marketbeat reports. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and seventeen have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month target price among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $274.50.

A number of research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Citigroup reduced their target price on shares of Accenture from $266.00 to $215.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 25th. TD Cowen reduced their target price on shares of Accenture from $282.00 to $275.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, March 16th. Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on shares of Accenture from $320.00 to $240.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, March 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of Accenture from $243.00 to $247.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, March 20th. Finally, HSBC dropped their price objective on shares of Accenture from $220.00 to $210.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 14th.

Accenture Price Performance

NYSE:ACN opened at $179.36 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $119.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.69, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 1.08. The company has a current ratio of 1.34, a quick ratio of 1.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. The company’s 50-day moving average is $187.42 and its two-hundred day moving average is $228.79. Accenture has a 12-month low of $155.82 and a 12-month high of $321.77.

Accenture (NYSE:ACN) last released its earnings results on Friday, March 20th. The information technology services provider reported $2.93 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.84 by $0.09. The company 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%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 7.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $2.82 EPS. Research analysts expect that Accenture will post 13.87 EPS for the current year.

Accenture Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 9th were paid a dividend of $1.63 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, April 9th. This represents a $6.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.6%. Accenture’s dividend payout ratio is currently 53.40%.

Insider Activity at Accenture

In other news, CEO Atsushi Egawa sold 4,872 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $177.14, for a total transaction of $863,026.08. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 12,802 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,267,746.28. This represents a 27.57% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. 0.02% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Jaffetilchin Investment Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of Accenture by 4.2% during the 4th quarter. Jaffetilchin Investment Partners LLC now owns 878 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $236,000 after acquiring an additional 35 shares during the last quarter. Clayton Financial Group LLC increased its position in Accenture by 13.1% during the 4th quarter. Clayton Financial Group LLC now owns 329 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $88,000 after purchasing an additional 38 shares in the last quarter. Holt Capital Advisors L.L.C. dba Holt Capital Partners L.P. increased its position in Accenture by 0.9% during the 3rd quarter. Holt Capital Advisors L.L.C. dba Holt Capital Partners L.P. now owns 4,416 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $1,089,000 after purchasing an additional 41 shares in the last quarter. Peak Asset Management LLC increased its position in Accenture by 0.8% during the 4th quarter. Peak Asset Management LLC now owns 5,447 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $1,461,000 after purchasing an additional 43 shares in the last quarter. Finally, SkyView Investment Advisors LLC increased its position in Accenture by 1.2% during the 2nd quarter. SkyView Investment Advisors LLC now owns 3,751 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $1,108,000 after purchasing an additional 43 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.14% of the company’s stock.

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.