Accenture (NYSE:ACN) Sets New 12-Month Low After Analyst Downgrade

Key Points

• Accenture's stock reached a new 12-month low at $234.10 after Wolfe Research downgraded its price target from $290 to $285.
• The consensus rating for Accenture is a Moderate Buy, with an average price target of $329.52 despite some recent analyst downgrades.
• Insider sales were reported, including CEO Mauro Macchi selling 500 shares at an average price of $282.34, representing a 17.97% decrease in his position.

Shares of Accenture PLC (NYSE:ACN - Get Free Report) hit a new 52-week low during mid-day trading on Tuesday after Wolfe Research lowered their price target on the stock from $290.00 to $285.00. Wolfe Research currently has an outperform rating on the stock. Accenture traded as low as $234.10 and last traded at $234.85, with a volume of 3494968 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $239.99.

Other analysts have also recently issued reports about the company. Hsbc Global Res raised Accenture to a "moderate sell" rating in a research note on Monday, July 28th. Evercore ISI assumed coverage on Accenture in a research note on Thursday, July 17th. They issued an "outperform" rating and a $330.00 target price on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus cut their price objective on Accenture from $355.00 to $315.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, September 16th. Benchmark reaffirmed a "mixed" rating on shares of Accenture in a research report on Friday, June 20th. Finally, Robert W. Baird cut their price objective on Accenture from $372.00 to $350.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, September 16th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have issued a Buy rating, eight have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Accenture has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $329.52.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Angela Beatty sold 203 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Friday, July 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $282.34, for a total value of $57,315.02. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 5,249 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,482,002.66. This represents a 3.72% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Mauro Macchi sold 500 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Friday, July 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $282.34, for a total transaction of $141,170.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 2,283 shares in the company, valued at approximately $644,582.22. The trade was a 17.97% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 2,954 shares of company stock valued at $834,280 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.02% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Redwood Investments LLC raised its stake in Accenture by 6.2% during the first quarter. Redwood Investments LLC now owns 22,087 shares of the information technology services provider's stock worth $6,892,000 after purchasing an additional 1,287 shares during the period. Lipe & Dalton grew its holdings in shares of Accenture by 2,087.4% in the first quarter. Lipe & Dalton now owns 5,031 shares of the information technology services provider's stock valued at $1,570,000 after purchasing an additional 4,801 shares in the last quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in Accenture by 40.5% during the 1st quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 98,633 shares of the information technology services provider's stock worth $30,777,000 after acquiring an additional 28,446 shares in the last quarter. Park National Corp OH grew its holdings in Accenture by 4.3% during the 2nd quarter. Park National Corp OH now owns 129,667 shares of the information technology services provider's stock worth $38,756,000 after acquiring an additional 5,388 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mn Services Vermogensbeheer B.V. boosted its holdings in shares of Accenture by 1.5% in the 2nd quarter. Mn Services Vermogensbeheer B.V. now owns 234,066 shares of the information technology services provider's stock valued at $69,960,000 after buying an additional 3,500 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.14% of the company's stock.

Accenture Stock Performance

The firm's fifty day moving average price is $256.92 and its 200-day moving average price is $288.31. The firm has a market cap of $146.93 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.68, a PEG ratio of 2.07 and a beta of 1.30. The company has a current ratio of 1.46, a quick ratio of 1.46 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16.

Accenture (NYSE:ACN - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, June 20th. The information technology services provider reported $3.49 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $3.32 by $0.17. Accenture had a net margin of 11.61% and a return on equity of 26.55%. The business had revenue of $17.73 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $17.26 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $3.13 earnings per share. The company's quarterly revenue was up 7.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts expect that Accenture PLC will post 12.73 earnings per share for the current year.

About Accenture

Accenture plc, a professional services company, provides strategy and consulting, industry X, song, and technology and operation services worldwide. The company offers application services, including agile transformation, DevOps, application modernization, enterprise architecture, software and quality engineering, data management; intelligent automation comprising robotic process automation, natural language processing, and virtual agents; and application management services, as well as software engineering services; strategy and consulting services; data and analytics strategy, data discovery and augmentation, data management and beyond, data democratization, and industrialized solutions comprising turnkey analytics and artificial intelligence (AI) solutions; metaverse; and sustainability services.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest and most accurate reporting. This story was reviewed by MarketBeat's editorial team prior to publication. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.