TD Cowen Lowers Accenture (NYSE:ACN) Price Target to $258.00

Accenture (NYSE:ACN) had its target price cut by TD Cowen from $282.00 to $258.00 in a research report issued to clients and investors on Monday,MarketScreener reports. The brokerage currently has a “buy” rating on the information technology services provider’s stock. TD Cowen’s target price points to a potential upside of 45.13% from the stock’s previous close.

Several other analysts also recently commented on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their price target on shares of Accenture from $300.00 to $270.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday. BMO Capital Markets reduced their price objective on Accenture from $300.00 to $230.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, March 20th. HSBC dropped their target price on Accenture from $220.00 to $210.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 14th. Royal Bank Of Canada cut their price objective on shares of Accenture from $295.00 to $253.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, March 20th. Finally, Citigroup dropped their price target on shares of Accenture from $215.00 to $195.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, June 1st. Seventeen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and ten have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $260.81.

Accenture Stock Performance

NYSE:ACN opened at $177.78 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $118.30 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.53, a PEG ratio of 1.69 and a beta of 1.08. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a quick ratio of 1.34 and a current ratio of 1.34. Accenture has a fifty-two week low of $155.82 and a fifty-two week high of $321.77. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $184.29 and a 200 day moving average price of $224.23.

Accenture (NYSE:ACN) 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. The firm had revenue of $18.04 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $17.80 billion. Accenture had a return on equity of 26.33% and a net margin of 10.61%.Accenture’s revenue was up 7.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $2.82 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that Accenture will post 13.88 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Atsushi Egawa sold 4,872 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $177.14, for a total transaction of $863,026.08. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 12,802 shares in the company, valued at $2,267,746.28. This represents a 27.57% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Company insiders own 0.02% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Weitz Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of 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 Accenture by 27.7% during the 4th quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas now owns 282,340 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $75,752,000 after purchasing an additional 61,314 shares during the last quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board boosted its position in Accenture by 180.4% during the third quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 404,680 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $99,794,000 after purchasing an additional 260,357 shares during the period. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC increased its holdings 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 valued at $37,960,000 after purchasing an additional 93,880 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank raised its position in shares of 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. 75.14% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Accenture Company Profile

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.