Accenture (NYSE:ACN) Reaches New 1-Year Low - Here's What Happened

Key Points

• Accenture hit a new 52‑week low — shares traded as low as $175.45 (last $176.58) and were down about 6.8% on roughly 1.14 million shares traded.
• Analysts remain cautiously positive — MarketBeat shows an average rating of "Moderate Buy" with 17 Buys and 10 Holds and an average price target of $274.50.
• Fundamentals mixed but solid — the company beat quarterly EPS and revenue estimates, declared a quarterly dividend yielding 3.7%, and has seen recent insider selling.

Shares of Accenture PLC (NYSE:ACN - Get Free Report) hit a new 52-week low during mid-day trading on Thursday . The stock traded as low as $175.45 and last traded at $176.5810, with a volume of 1136462 shares. The stock had previously closed at $190.10.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ACN has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Berenberg Bank assumed coverage on shares of Accenture in a report on Thursday, January 22nd. They issued a "buy" rating and a $313.00 target price for the company. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on Accenture from $251.00 to $275.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Wednesday, January 14th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price objective on Accenture from $270.00 to $280.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, January 8th. Piper Sandler set a $282.00 target price on Accenture in a report on Thursday, March 5th. Finally, Argus dropped their target price on shares of Accenture from $370.00 to $335.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, December 29th. Seventeen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and ten have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $274.50.

Accenture Stock Down 6.8%

The company has a quick ratio of 1.34, a current ratio of 1.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. The firm has a market capitalization of $117.91 billion, a PE ratio of 14.50, a P/E/G ratio of 1.84 and a beta of 1.24. The firm's 50 day moving average price is $201.61 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $238.77.

Accenture (NYSE:ACN - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Friday, March 20th. The information technology services provider reported $2.93 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.84 by $0.09. The company 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%.The company's revenue was up 7.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $2.82 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts forecast that Accenture PLC will post 13.87 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Accenture Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, April 9th will be paid a $1.63 dividend. This represents a $6.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.7%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 9th. Accenture's payout ratio is 53.40%.

Insider Activity

In related news, General Counsel Joel Unruch sold 1,026 shares of Accenture stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $281.70, for a total value of $289,024.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the general counsel directly owned 27,181 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,656,887.70. This trade represents a 3.64% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Julie Spellman Sweet sold 6,057 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $241.23, for a total value of $1,461,130.11. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 15,255 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,679,963.65. This represents a 28.42% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold a total of 15,331 shares of company stock worth $4,048,871 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.02% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Accenture

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. grew its position in shares of Accenture by 132.6% during the 3rd quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 107 shares of the information technology services provider's stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 61 shares during the last quarter. Triumph Capital Management bought a new position in shares of Accenture during the third quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Board of the Pension Protection Fund bought a new stake in shares of Accenture in the 4th quarter worth approximately $27,000. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Accenture during the fourth quarter worth about $27,000. Finally, McMillan Office Inc. bought a new stake in Accenture in the 4th quarter valued at about $27,000. 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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.