Within the last quarter, Accenture ACN has observed the following analyst ratings:

In the last 3 months, 16 analysts have offered 12-month price targets for Accenture. The company has an average price target of $317.88 with a high of $340.00 and a low of $290.00.

This current average represents a 6.78% increase from the previous average price target of $297.69.

Analyst Ratings: What Are They?

Analysts work in banking and financial systems and typically specialize in reporting for stocks or defined sectors. Analysts may attend company conference calls and meetings, research company financial statements, and communicate with insiders to publish "analyst ratings" for stocks. Analysts typically rate each stock once per quarter.

Analysts also give out recommendations like "buy", "sell", "hold", or similar verbage for each stock based on their overall evaluations of the corres ponding company. A "buy" indicates that an analyst is optimistic about a stock's short-term or mid-term growth, recommending traders to purchase the stock. Contrastingly, a "sell" means that an analyst believes the stock will trend downwards in that same time frame. A "hold" suggests that investors should not buy more of or sell any of the specified stock due to that analyst's prediction of stagnation.

Some analysts will also offer forecasts for metrics like growth estimates, earnings, and revenue to provide further guidance on stocks. Investors who use analyst ratings should note that this specialized advice comes from humans and may be subject to error.