Accenture (NYSE:ACN) Stock Rating Upgraded by Citigroup

Key Points

• Accenture's stock rating has been upgraded to a "hold" by Citigroup, although the stock is simultaneously experiencing mixed ratings from other analysts, including a "buy" from Goldman Sachs and a downgrade from HSBC.
• The company reported a quarterly earnings per share (EPS) of $3.03, exceeding analysts' expectations, with revenues of $17.60 billion reflecting a 7.3% year-over-year increase.
• Insider selling is notable, as CEO Ryoji Sekido and other executives sold a combined total of over $2.8 million worth of shares on October 22nd, indicating significant changes in their ownership stakes.

Accenture (NYSE:ACN - Get Free Report) was upgraded by investment analysts at Citigroup to a "hold" rating in a research note issued to investors on Thursday,Zacks.com reports.

Several other equities research analysts have also issued reports on the stock. Weiss Ratings reissued a "hold (c-)" rating on shares of Accenture in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their price target on Accenture from $370.00 to $330.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Friday, September 26th. Hsbc Global Res upgraded Accenture to a "moderate sell" rating in a research note on Monday, July 28th. Rothschild Redb downgraded Accenture from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 3rd. Finally, Robert W. Baird dropped their target price on Accenture from $350.00 to $330.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, September 26th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have given a Buy rating, twelve have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $297.48.

Accenture Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:ACN opened at $249.59 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $164.35 billion, a PE ratio of 20.54, a P/E/G ratio of 2.17 and a beta of 1.28. Accenture has a 12 month low of $229.40 and a 12 month high of $398.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 1.42 and a quick ratio of 1.42. The business has a 50-day moving average of $247.25 and a two-hundred day moving average of $277.81.

Accenture (NYSE:ACN - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, September 25th. The information technology services provider reported $3.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.98 by $0.05. Accenture had a return on equity of 26.45% and a net margin of 11.02%.The business had revenue of $17.60 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $17.34 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $2.66 EPS. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 7.3% on a year-over-year basis. Accenture has set its FY 2026 guidance at 13.190-13.570 EPS. Q1 2026 guidance at EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that Accenture will post 12.73 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity at Accenture

In related news, CEO Ryoji Sekido sold 2,500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $249.47, for a total value of $623,675.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 1,390 shares of the company's stock, valued at $346,763.30. This represents a 64.27% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Julie Spellman Sweet sold 9,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $249.57, for a total transaction of $2,246,130.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 23,516 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $5,868,888.12. This represents a 27.68% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 18,402 shares of company stock valued at $4,595,374 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.02% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of ACN. Investors Research Corp raised its position in shares of Accenture by 73.8% during the 3rd quarter. Investors Research Corp now owns 106 shares of the information technology services provider's stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 45 shares in the last quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. increased its stake in Accenture by 132.6% during the third quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 107 shares of the information technology services provider's stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 61 shares during the last quarter. Davis Capital Management acquired a new stake in shares of Accenture during the third quarter worth $28,000. Elevation Wealth Partners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Accenture by 146.0% in the 3rd quarter. Elevation Wealth Partners LLC now owns 123 shares of the information technology services provider's stock valued at $30,000 after buying an additional 73 shares during the period. Finally, Kelly Lawrence W & Associates Inc. CA bought a new stake in shares of Accenture during the 1st quarter valued at about $31,000. Institutional investors own 75.14% of the company's stock.

Accenture Company Profile

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.

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