JPMorgan Chase & Co. Issues Pessimistic Forecast for Accenture (NYSE:ACN) Stock Price

Key Points

• JPMorgan Chase & Co. has reduced its price target for Accenture from $334.00 to $302.00, while maintaining an "overweight" rating, suggesting a potential upside of 17.02% from the last closing price.
• Other firms have provided varying ratings and price targets for Accenture, with estimates ranging from $290.00 to $395.00, reflecting mixed sentiments about the stock's future performance.
• In recent insider trading, CEO Mauro Macchi and another insider sold shares at an average price of $282.34, indicating a significant decrease in their ownership stakes.

Accenture (NYSE:ACN - Get Free Report) had its price objective cut by equities research analysts at JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $334.00 to $302.00 in a report issued on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an "overweight" rating on the information technology services provider's stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co.'s target price indicates a potential upside of 17.02% from the company's previous close.

Several other research firms have also commented on ACN. BMO Capital Markets lowered their price objective on shares of Accenture from $355.00 to $325.00 and set a "market perform" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, June 23rd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft started coverage on shares of Accenture in a research note on Thursday, July 17th. They issued a "hold" rating and a $290.00 price target for the company. Argus set a $370.00 price objective on shares of Accenture in a research report on Tuesday, June 24th. UBS Group reaffirmed a "buy" rating and issued a $395.00 target price (up from $390.00) on shares of Accenture in a report on Thursday, May 22nd. Finally, Evercore ISI initiated coverage on shares of Accenture in a report on Thursday, July 17th. They issued an "outperform" rating and a $330.00 target price on the stock. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have given a Buy rating, seven have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $358.08.

Accenture Trading Up 0.9%

Shares of ACN traded up $2.2030 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $258.0830. The stock had a trading volume of 1,865,525 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,544,077. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 1.46 and a quick ratio of 1.46. Accenture has a 52-week low of $236.67 and a 52-week high of $398.35. The business's fifty day moving average is $281.27 and its 200 day moving average is $309.36. The firm has a market cap of $161.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.55, a P/E/G ratio of 2.27 and a beta of 1.29.

Accenture (NYSE:ACN - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, June 20th. The information technology services provider reported $3.49 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $3.32 by $0.17. The firm had revenue of $17.73 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $17.26 billion. Accenture had a net margin of 11.61% and a return on equity of 26.55%. Accenture's quarterly revenue was up 7.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $3.13 earnings per share. Accenture has set its Q4 2025 guidance at EPS. FY 2025 guidance at 12.770-12.890 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Accenture will post 12.73 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Accenture

In other Accenture news, insider Angela Beatty sold 203 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $282.34, for a total transaction of $57,315.02. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 5,249 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,482,002.66. This trade represents a 3.72% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Mauro Macchi sold 500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $282.34, for a total transaction of $141,170.00. Following the transaction, 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 ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 2,954 shares of company stock valued at $834,280. Insiders own 0.02% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Mpwm Advisory Solutions LLC acquired a new stake in Accenture in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Park Square Financial Group LLC acquired a new stake in Accenture in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Capital A Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Accenture during the fourth quarter worth approximately $34,000. Kelly Lawrence W & Associates Inc. CA acquired a new stake in shares of Accenture during the first quarter worth approximately $31,000. Finally, Inlight Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Accenture during the first quarter worth approximately $32,000. Hedge funds and other 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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