Accenture (NYSE:ACN) Stock Rating Upgraded by StockNews.com

Accenture (NYSE:ACN) was upgraded by stock analysts at StockNews.com from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note issued on Monday.

ACN has been the subject of a number of other reports. Barclays increased their price objective on Accenture from $340.00 to $390.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday. Citigroup increased their price objective on Accenture from $306.00 to $358.00 in a report on Wednesday, June 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on Accenture from $314.00 to $341.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 22nd. Piper Jaffray Companies decreased their price target on Accenture from $316.00 to $314.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Friday, June 23rd. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price target on Accenture from $292.00 to $377.00 in a report on Friday, June 9th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Accenture currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $333.85.

Accenture Stock Performance

Shares of ACN traded up $0.40 during trading hours on Monday, reaching $325.87. The stock had a trading volume of 1,543,509 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,303,244. Accenture has a 12 month low of $242.80 and a 12 month high of $330.43. The stock has a market capitalization of $216.59 billion, a PE ratio of 29.04, a PEG ratio of 2.79 and a beta of 1.22. The company’s 50-day moving average is $315.85 and its two-hundred day moving average is $294.99.

Accenture (NYSE:ACN) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, June 22nd. The information technology services provider reported $3.19 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.96 by $0.23. The company had revenue of $16.56 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $16.49 billion. Accenture had a return on equity of 30.47% and a net margin of 11.28%. Accenture’s revenue was up 2.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $2.79 EPS. Equities analysts anticipate that Accenture will post 11.59 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, General Counsel Joel Unruch sold 7,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $320.60, for a total transaction of $2,244,200.00. Following the completion of the sale, the general counsel now owns 36,034 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,552,500.40. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, CAO Melissa A. Burgum sold 1,344 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $300.00, for a total transaction of $403,200.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 10,506 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,151,800. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, General Counsel Joel Unruch sold 7,000 shares of Accenture stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $320.60, for a total transaction of $2,244,200.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the general counsel now owns 36,034 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,552,500.40. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 25,774 shares of company stock valued at $8,138,451 in the last 90 days. 0.08% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. First National Bank of Hutchinson raised its stake in shares of Accenture by 2.9% during the 2nd quarter. First National Bank of Hutchinson now owns 1,132 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $349,000 after acquiring an additional 32 shares in the last quarter. Pinnacle Wealth Planning Services Inc. raised its stake in shares of Accenture by 0.7% during the 2nd quarter. Pinnacle Wealth Planning Services Inc. now owns 4,535 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $1,399,000 after acquiring an additional 32 shares in the last quarter. Aries Wealth Management raised its stake in shares of Accenture by 0.8% during the 2nd quarter. Aries Wealth Management now owns 4,288 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $1,323,000 after acquiring an additional 33 shares in the last quarter. Mitchell Sinkler & Starr PA raised its stake in shares of Accenture by 0.6% during the 2nd quarter. Mitchell Sinkler & Starr PA now owns 5,172 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $1,596,000 after acquiring an additional 33 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Blue Chip Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of Accenture by 6.6% during the 2nd quarter. Blue Chip Partners LLC now owns 532 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $164,000 after acquiring an additional 33 shares in the last quarter. 70.42% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Accenture

Accenture plc, a professional services company, provides strategy and consulting, interactive, 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 comprises 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 comprises turnkey analytics and artificial intelligence (AI) solutions; metaverse; and sustainability services.