Accenture (NYSE:ACN) Price Target Increased to $415.00 by Analysts at UBS Group

Accenture (NYSE:ACN) had its price objective raised by UBS Group from $400.00 to $415.00 in a research note released on Friday morning, Benzinga reports. They currently have a buy rating on the information technology services provider’s stock.

Several other research firms have also recently issued reports on ACN. TD Cowen raised their target price on shares of Accenture from $293.00 to $321.00 and gave the stock a hold rating in a research report on Thursday, September 12th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target on shares of Accenture from $380.00 to $390.00 and gave the company a market perform rating in a report on Friday. Bank of America upped their price objective on Accenture from $365.00 to $388.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a report on Friday. Mizuho lifted their target price on Accenture from $352.00 to $365.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a report on Wednesday, September 18th. Finally, Barclays dropped their price target on Accenture from $390.00 to $350.00 and set an overweight rating for the company in a research note on Monday, June 17th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $371.18.

Accenture Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE ACN opened at $353.33 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $221.43 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.36, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.69 and a beta of 1.24. Accenture has a 1 year low of $278.69 and a 1 year high of $387.51. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $334.35 and its 200 day moving average price is $320.23.

Accenture (NYSE:ACN) last released its earnings results on Thursday, September 26th. The information technology services provider reported $2.79 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.78 by $0.01. Accenture had a return on equity of 27.48% and a net margin of 10.79%. The firm had revenue of $16.41 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.37 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $2.71 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 2.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts predict that Accenture will post 11.95 EPS for the current year.

Accenture announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a share buyback program on Thursday, September 26th that allows the company to buyback $4.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the information technology services provider to purchase up to 1.8% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are usually an indication that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Accenture Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, October 10th will be issued a $1.48 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, October 10th. This represents a $5.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.68%. This is a positive change from Accenture’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.29. Accenture’s payout ratio is currently 47.25%.

Insider Transactions at Accenture

In related news, CFO Kathleen R. Mcclure sold 3,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $309.22, for a total transaction of $927,660.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 40,070 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $12,390,445.40. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In related news, CFO Kathleen R. Mcclure sold 3,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $309.22, for a total transaction of $927,660.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 40,070 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $12,390,445.40. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CFO Kathleen R. Mcclure sold 1,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $315.00, for a total transaction of $472,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 38,570 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,149,550. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 21,421 shares of company stock valued at $6,912,635. 0.07% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Accenture

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Pin Oak Investment Advisors Inc. lifted its position in Accenture by 8.2% in the 4th quarter. Pin Oak Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 357 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $125,000 after purchasing an additional 27 shares during the last quarter. Kolinsky Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Accenture by 1.0% during the fourth quarter. Kolinsky Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,888 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $1,013,000 after buying an additional 30 shares during the period. Walled Lake Planning & Wealth Management LLC increased its position in Accenture by 0.3% in the 4th quarter. Walled Lake Planning & Wealth Management LLC now owns 11,740 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $4,120,000 after acquiring an additional 32 shares during the period. West Paces Advisors Inc. boosted its position in Accenture by 10.2% during the 1st quarter. West Paces Advisors Inc. now owns 346 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $120,000 after acquiring an additional 32 shares during the period. Finally, Tsfg LLC increased its holdings in shares of Accenture by 31.1% during the second quarter. Tsfg LLC now owns 135 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $41,000 after purchasing an additional 32 shares during the period. 75.14% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.