Accenture (NYSE:ACN) Price Target Lowered to $248.00 at Wells Fargo & Company

Key Points

• Wells Fargo lowered Accenture’s price target from $275 to $248 while maintaining an overweight rating, implying about 39% upside from the current share price.
• Analyst sentiment remains mixed but constructive, with several firms recently cutting targets, while the broader consensus is still a “Moderate Buy” and a $265.54 average price target.
• Accenture reported solid quarterly results, beating EPS and revenue estimates for the March quarter, even as the stock fell 4.3% and the CEO sold shares in a pre-arranged transaction.

Accenture (NYSE:ACN - Get Free Report) had its target price decreased by research analysts at Wells Fargo & Company from $275.00 to $248.00 in a research report issued on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an "overweight" rating on the information technology services provider's stock. Wells Fargo & Company's price objective would suggest a potential upside of 39.22% from the stock's current price.

Other research analysts have also issued research reports about the stock. HSBC reduced 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. Mizuho lowered their price objective on Accenture from $309.00 to $280.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, March 23rd. UBS Group reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of Accenture in a research report on Tuesday, March 17th. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their price objective on shares of Accenture from $300.00 to $270.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada dropped their target price on shares of Accenture from $295.00 to $253.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, March 20th. Seventeen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and ten have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Accenture has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $265.54.

Accenture Stock Down 4.3%

Shares of NYSE ACN opened at $178.14 on Thursday. Accenture has a 12-month low of $155.82 and a 12-month high of $321.77. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $184.86 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $225.13. The stock has a market capitalization of $118.54 billion, a PE ratio of 14.59, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.76 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.

Accenture (NYSE:ACN - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, March 20th. The information technology services provider reported $2.93 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.84 by $0.09. Accenture had a return on equity of 26.33% and a net margin of 10.61%.The firm had revenue of $18.04 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $17.80 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.82 EPS. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 7.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts expect that Accenture will post 13.88 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Atsushi Egawa sold 4,872 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on 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 directly owned 12,802 shares in the company, valued at $2,267,746.28. The trade was a 27.57% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. 0.02% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Accenture

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Weitz Investment Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Accenture by 28.8% in the third quarter. Weitz Investment Management Inc. now owns 160,550 shares of the information technology services provider's stock valued at $39,592,000 after buying an additional 35,900 shares in the last quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas lifted its position in shares of Accenture by 27.7% during the 4th quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas now owns 282,340 shares of the information technology services provider's stock valued at $75,752,000 after buying an additional 61,314 shares in the last quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board grew its stake in Accenture by 180.4% in the 3rd quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 404,680 shares of the information technology services provider's stock valued at $99,794,000 after acquiring an additional 260,357 shares during the period. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Accenture by 197.2% in the 4th quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 141,484 shares of the information technology services provider's stock worth $37,960,000 after acquiring an additional 93,880 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank raised its position in Accenture by 36.6% during the fourth quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 557,516 shares of the information technology services provider's stock worth $149,582,000 after acquiring an additional 149,357 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.14% of the company's stock.

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.

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