Accenture (NYSE:ACN) Lowered to Market Perform Rating by William Blair

Accenture (NYSE:ACN) was downgraded by stock analysts at William Blair from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report issued on Thursday.

Other analysts have also issued reports about the company. UBS Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Accenture in a research report on Tuesday. Evercore set a $180.00 price objective on Accenture in a report on Thursday. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their target price on Accenture from $300.00 to $270.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, June 3rd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased their price target on shares of Accenture from $210.00 to $199.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, June 2nd. Finally, Oppenheimer set a $201.00 price objective on shares of Accenture in a report on Monday, June 8th. Sixteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and twelve have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $232.41.

Accenture Trading Down 18.8%

Shares of Accenture stock traded down $29.26 on Thursday, reaching $126.75. 28,575,891 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 6,284,430. The company has a market capitalization of $84.34 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.38, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.57 and a beta of 1.08. Accenture has a 52 week low of $126.50 and a 52 week high of $307.77. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a quick ratio of 1.34 and a current ratio of 1.34. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $179.51 and its two-hundred day moving average is $219.86.

Accenture (NYSE:ACN) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, June 18th. The information technology services provider reported $3.80 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.70 by $0.10. Accenture had a net margin of 10.61% and a return on equity of 26.33%. The business had revenue of $18.72 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $18.78 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $3.49 earnings per share. Accenture’s revenue was up 5.6% on a year-over-year basis. Accenture has set its FY 2026 guidance at 13.780-13.900 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that Accenture will post 13.83 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Accenture

In related news, CEO Atsushi Egawa sold 4,872 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $177.14, for a total value of $863,026.08. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 12,802 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,267,746.28. This represents a 27.57% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through 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 Trading of Accenture

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in ACN. Brighton Jones LLC lifted its position in shares of Accenture by 36.2% during the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 18,438 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $6,486,000 after buying an additional 4,905 shares in the last quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC lifted its holdings in Accenture by 46.9% during the second quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC now owns 2,066 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $618,000 after acquiring an additional 660 shares during the period. United Bank boosted its position in Accenture by 49.8% in the second quarter. United Bank now owns 3,639 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $1,088,000 after purchasing an additional 1,209 shares during the last quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia increased its position in shares of Accenture by 23.0% during the 2nd quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia now owns 828 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $247,000 after purchasing an additional 155 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Main Street Financial Solutions LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Accenture by 4.2% in the 2nd quarter. Main Street Financial Solutions LLC now owns 1,767 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $528,000 after buying an additional 72 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 75.14% of the company’s stock.

More Accenture News

Here are the key news stories impacting Accenture this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Accenture beat Q3 EPS estimates, reporting $3.80 per share versus consensus of $3.70, while revenue still rose 5.6% year over year. ACN Q3 Earnings Beat Estimates on Growth in Managed Services
• Positive Sentiment: Management highlighted strength in managed services, improving margins, strong cash flow, and new cybersecurity-related deals, which support the long-term growth story. Accenture to Strengthen Critical Infrastructure Defense…
• Neutral Sentiment: Accenture also announced additional acquisitions, including Alfahealth, IndX, Dragos, runZero, and NetRise, which may broaden capabilities but could take time to materially affect results. Italy’s Engineering sells two units to Accenture
• Neutral Sentiment: Several analysts responded cautiously, with at least one price target cut to reflect slower growth expectations, signaling that sentiment has turned more conservative after the guidance update. MarketScreener BNP Paribas target cut
• Negative Sentiment: The main driver of the stock’s decline is the lowered revenue outlook, which overshadowed the earnings beat and reinforced worries about weak demand in IT consulting and cloud/AI services. Accenture Tumbles On Fiscal Q3 Sales Miss, Weak Guidance

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.