Weiss Ratings Reaffirms Hold (C-) Rating for Accenture (NYSE:ACN)

Key Points

• Weiss Ratings has reaffirmed a "Hold (C-)" rating for Accenture (NYSE:ACN), while other analysts have varying opinions, including upgrades and target price reductions.
• Accenture reported a Q1 EPS of $3.03, surpassing estimates, and revenue of $17.60 billion, which also exceeded expectations, with a year-over-year revenue increase of 7.3%.
• Insider transactions indicate a decrease in holdings, with notable sales from CEO Mauro Macchi and insider Angela Beatty, suggesting cautious sentiment among company executives.

Accenture (NYSE:ACN - Get Free Report)'s stock had its "hold (c-)" rating reissued by analysts at Weiss Ratings in a report issued on Wednesday,Weiss Ratings reports.

Several other research firms have also recently issued reports on ACN. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Accenture from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, October 3rd. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their target price on shares of Accenture from $370.00 to $330.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, September 26th. BNP Paribas Exane lowered their target price on shares of Accenture from $300.00 to $255.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, September 24th. Cowen restated a "buy" rating on shares of Accenture in a research report on Friday, September 26th. Finally, Robert W. Baird reduced their target price on shares of Accenture from $350.00 to $330.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, September 26th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have given a Buy rating, ten have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $300.22.

Accenture Stock Performance

Shares of ACN stock traded up $1.18 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $252.41. 2,260,648 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,843,146. The company has a market capitalization of $158.09 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.77, a PEG ratio of 2.16 and a beta of 1.28. The company has a current ratio of 1.42, a quick ratio of 1.46 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. The firm's 50-day moving average is $248.44 and its 200 day moving average is $282.62. Accenture has a 1 year low of $229.40 and a 1 year high of $398.35.

Accenture (NYSE:ACN - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, September 25th. The information technology services provider reported $3.03 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.98 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $17.60 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $17.34 billion. Accenture had a net margin of 11.02% and a return on equity of 26.45%. Accenture's revenue was up 7.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $2.66 EPS. Accenture has set its FY 2026 guidance at 13.190-13.570 EPS. Q1 2026 guidance at EPS. Equities research analysts expect that Accenture will post 12.73 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Accenture

In other news, insider Angela Beatty sold 203 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 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 sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Mauro Macchi sold 500 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 2,283 shares in the company, valued at $644,582.22. The trade was a 17.97% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 2,954 shares of company stock valued at $834,280 in the last 90 days. 0.02% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Accenture

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in ACN. Brighton Jones LLC grew its stake in Accenture by 36.2% in the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 18,438 shares of the information technology services provider's stock valued at $6,486,000 after acquiring an additional 4,905 shares during the period. Signet Financial Management LLC purchased a new position in Accenture in the 1st quarter valued at $823,000. Wealthcare Advisory Partners LLC lifted its holdings in Accenture by 41.4% in the 1st quarter. Wealthcare Advisory Partners LLC now owns 4,864 shares of the information technology services provider's stock valued at $1,518,000 after purchasing an additional 1,424 shares in the last quarter. Accurate Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in Accenture by 26.5% in the 1st quarter. Accurate Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,318 shares of the information technology services provider's stock valued at $663,000 after purchasing an additional 485 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Integrated Advisors Network LLC lifted its holdings in Accenture by 11.4% in the 1st quarter. Integrated Advisors Network LLC now owns 18,470 shares of the information technology services provider's stock valued at $5,763,000 after purchasing an additional 1,885 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.14% of the company's stock.

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.