Accenture (NYSE:ACN) Research Coverage Started at StockNews.com

StockNews.com assumed coverage on shares of Accenture (NYSE:ACN – Get Rating) in a research report report published on Thursday morning. The firm issued a buy rating on the information technology services provider’s stock.

ACN has been the topic of several other reports. Wells Fargo & Company started coverage on Accenture in a research report on Monday, January 30th. They set an equal weight rating and a $289.00 price target on the stock. Wedbush reiterated an outperform rating and issued a $300.00 price objective on shares of Accenture in a report on Monday, March 13th. Piper Sandler cut Accenture from a neutral rating to an underweight rating and set a $268.00 price objective for the company. in a report on Monday, December 12th. Cowen increased their price objective on Accenture from $295.00 to $300.00 in a report on Monday, December 19th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group dropped their price objective on Accenture from $290.00 to $279.00 in a report on Monday, December 19th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Accenture has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $316.50.

Accenture Stock Down 1.2 %

Shares of NYSE ACN opened at $250.00 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $157.56 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.71, a P/E/G ratio of 2.26 and a beta of 1.25. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $273.70 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $275.04. Accenture has a twelve month low of $242.80 and a twelve month high of $345.30.

Accenture (NYSE:ACN – Get Rating) last announced its earnings results on Friday, December 16th. The information technology services provider reported $3.08 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.91 by $0.17. The business had revenue of $15.75 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $15.58 billion. Accenture had a return on equity of 31.49% and a net margin of 11.31%. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Accenture will post 11.44 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Accenture

In related news, insider James O. Etheredge sold 5,000 shares of Accenture stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $286.11, for a total transaction of $1,430,550.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 13,930 shares in the company, valued at $3,985,512.30. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, insider James O. Etheredge sold 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $286.11, for a total value of $1,430,550.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 13,930 shares in the company, valued at $3,985,512.30. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CAO Melissa A. Burgum sold 1,027 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $280.99, for a total value of $288,576.73. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 11,467 shares in the company, valued at $3,222,112.33. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 39,015 shares of company stock worth $10,884,179. Corporate insiders own 0.08% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Accenture

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Accenture by 1.4% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 58,473,666 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $15,045,274,000 after buying an additional 816,734 shares during the period. BlackRock Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Accenture by 0.7% during the 3rd quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 46,363,742 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $11,929,391,000 after purchasing an additional 319,707 shares during the last quarter. Morgan Stanley lifted its holdings in shares of Accenture by 14.9% during the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 16,642,841 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $4,440,976,000 after purchasing an additional 2,163,582 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Accenture by 2.7% during the 2nd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 15,366,391 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $4,266,478,000 after purchasing an additional 409,980 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Accenture by 2.0% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 11,271,540 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $3,002,625,000 after purchasing an additional 223,509 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 73.97% of the company’s stock.

Accenture Company Profile

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Accenture Plc engages in the provision of management consulting, technology, and outsourcing services. It operates through the following geographical segments: North America, Europe and Growth Markets. The company was founded in 1989 and is headquartered in Dublin, Ireland.