Accenture (NYSE:ACN) Stock Dropped to “Hold” by Robert W. Baird

Robert W. Baird downgraded shares of Accenture (NYSE:ACN) from a strong-buy rating to a hold rating in a research note issued to investors on Wednesday morning,Zacks reports.

A number of other equities research analysts have also recently commented on ACN. Truist Financial lifted their target price on Accenture from $150.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, October 2nd. Jefferies Financial Group set a $220.00 price target on shares of Accenture in a report on Friday, October 2nd. Evercore set a $250.00 price target on shares of Accenture and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 1st. Susquehanna raised their price objective on shares of Accenture from $210.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, October 15th. Finally, DA Davidson lowered their price objective on shares of Accenture from $275.00 to $175.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, June 23rd. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, sixteen have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $219.52.

Accenture Stock Performance

Shares of ACN opened at $240.61 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.43, a quick ratio of 1.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31. The company has a market capitalization of $160.68 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.74, a PEG ratio of 1.84 and a beta of 1.11. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $192.96 and a 200 day moving average of $175.23. Accenture has a 12 month low of $118.15 and a 12 month high of $291.09.

Accenture (NYSE:ACN) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 1st. The information technology services provider reported $3.29 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.18 by $0.11. The business had revenue of $18.68 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $18.03 billion. Accenture had a return on equity of 26.53% and a net margin of 11.28%. Accenture’s quarterly revenue was up 6.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $3.03 earnings per share. Accenture has set its FY 2027 guidance at 14.390-14.810 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Accenture will post 14.68 earnings per share for the current year.

Accenture Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 13th. Investors of record on Tuesday, October 13th will be paid a $1.71 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, October 13th. This represents a $6.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.8%. This is an increase from Accenture’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.63. Accenture’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 50.44%.

Insider Activity

In other Accenture news, COO Catherine Hogan sold 700 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $214.24, for a total transaction of $149,968.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer owned 11,856 shares in the company, valued at $2,540,029.44. This trade represents a 5.58% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, General Counsel Joel Unruch sold 10,498 shares of Accenture stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $162.98, for a total transaction of $1,710,964.04. Following the completion of the transaction, the general counsel owned 17,735 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,890,450.30. The trade was a 37.18% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 12,518 shares of company stock worth $2,124,932. Insiders own 0.02% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of ACN. Bank of America Corp DE raised its stake in shares of Accenture by 2.2% during the 1st quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 6,531,231 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $1,295,078,000 after purchasing an additional 143,483 shares during the period. First Trust Advisors LP lifted its holdings in shares of Accenture by 120.0% in the first quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 3,482,150 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $690,475,000 after buying an additional 1,899,305 shares in the last quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Accenture by 84.0% in the first quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC now owns 2,405,683 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $477,023,000 after buying an additional 1,097,961 shares in the last quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company boosted its position in shares of Accenture by 24.3% in the first quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 2,384,954 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $472,913,000 after acquiring an additional 466,452 shares during the period. Finally, Artemis Investment Management LLP boosted its position in shares of Accenture by 67.6% in the third quarter. Artemis Investment Management LLP now owns 2,196,789 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $402,825,000 after acquiring an additional 885,687 shares during the period. 75.14% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Accenture Company Profile

Accenture plc is a global professional services company that helps organizations transform their businesses through consulting, technology and managed services. Its work spans strategy and consulting, technology implementation, operations, and interactive customer experiences.

The company provides services in areas including cloud computing, artificial intelligence, cybersecurity, data and analytics, digital engineering, enterprise software, systems integration and business process outsourcing.