Jefferies Financial Group Lowers Accenture (NYSE:ACN) Price Target to $185.00

Key Points

• Jefferies Financial Group cut its price target on Accenture to $185 from $210 while keeping a hold rating, implying about 10% upside from the previous close.
• Other analysts have also turned more cautious recently, with several firms lowering targets; overall, Accenture still has a Moderate Buy consensus and an average target price of $254.04.
• Accenture shares were down about 1.5% and opened at $167.69, while the company’s latest earnings beat estimates with $2.93 EPS and revenue of $18.04 billion.

Accenture (NYSE:ACN - Get Free Report) had its price target lowered by analysts at Jefferies Financial Group from $210.00 to $185.00 in a note issued to investors on Monday,MarketScreener reports. The firm currently has a "hold" rating on the information technology services provider's stock. Jefferies Financial Group's target price would suggest a potential upside of 10.32% from the company's previous close.

ACN has been the subject of several other reports. UBS Group reiterated a "buy" rating on shares of Accenture in a research note on Tuesday, March 17th. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price objective on shares of Accenture from $315.00 to $270.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, June 3rd. Truist Financial lowered shares of Accenture from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and cut their price objective for the stock from $260.00 to $210.00 in a report on Monday, June 1st. Robert W. Baird lowered their target price on shares of Accenture from $330.00 to $265.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Friday, March 20th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on shares of Accenture from $275.00 to $248.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, June 4th. Sixteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eleven have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $254.04.

Accenture Stock Down 1.5%

ACN opened at $167.69 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $111.59 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.74, a PEG ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 1.09. The business's fifty day simple moving average is $181.79 and its 200 day simple moving average is $221.68. Accenture has a 52 week low of $155.82 and a 52 week high of $317.30. The company has a quick ratio of 1.34, a current ratio of 1.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16.

Accenture (NYSE:ACN - Get Free Report) 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. Accenture had a net margin of 10.61% and a return on equity of 26.33%. The company had revenue of $18.04 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $17.80 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $2.82 EPS. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 7.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Accenture will post 13.84 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Accenture

In other Accenture news, CEO Atsushi Egawa sold 4,872 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $177.14, for a total transaction of $863,026.08. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 12,802 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,267,746.28. This trade represents a 27.57% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Company insiders own 0.02% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Accenture

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Weitz Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in Accenture by 28.8% during the 3rd quarter. Weitz Investment Management Inc. now owns 160,550 shares of the information technology services provider's stock worth $39,592,000 after acquiring an additional 35,900 shares during the last quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas lifted its holdings in shares of Accenture by 27.7% during the fourth quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas now owns 282,340 shares of the information technology services provider's stock worth $75,752,000 after purchasing an additional 61,314 shares during the period. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Accenture by 197.2% in the fourth quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 141,484 shares of the information technology services provider's stock worth $37,960,000 after purchasing an additional 93,880 shares during the last quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank increased its holdings in Accenture by 36.6% in the fourth quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 557,516 shares of the information technology services provider's stock valued at $149,582,000 after purchasing an additional 149,357 shares during the period. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in Accenture by 1.3% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 66,070,930 shares of the information technology services provider's stock worth $17,726,831,000 after purchasing an additional 854,361 shares during 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.

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.