Several analysts lifted their price targets on Accenture
Diebold Nixdorf (DBD) announced this morning that it would extend its relationship with professional services specialist Accenture Plc (NYSE:ACN) to accelerate the former's multiyear digital cloud transformation program. Meanwhile, both Cowen and Company, and Stifel both lifted their price targets, to $210 and $236 respectively. This comes just one day after Wells Fargo downgraded the stock to "equal weight" from "overweight," citing sluggish recovery in discretionary IT spending.
Today's analyst notes are giving ACN a modest boost off yesterday's dip, up 0.5% at $204 at last check. The security managed to finish just north of the 20-day yesterday, which has, for the most part, kept Accenture stock's losses in check since early April. A broader look shows an impressive climb up the charts, with the security notching a three-month high of $211.32 on June 8. The stock boasts a three-month lead of 28%, though it is still languishing just below the year-to-date breakeven, off 3.6% coming into today.
Circling back to analyst sentiment, the majority covering ACN are optimistic, with 16 calling it a "buy" or better, and six saying "hold" or worse. The consensus 12-month price target of $197.83, however, is a 2.5% discount to last night's close.
Options activity, meanwhile, is relatively split. This is per ACN's 50-day put/call volume ratio of 1.06 at the International Securities Exchange (ISE), Chicago Board Options Exchange (CBOE), and NASDAQ OMX PHLX (PHLX). This ratio sits in the slightly elevated 61st percentile of its annual range.