Accenture price target lowered to $271 from $325 at Morgan Stanley

Morgan Stanley lowered the firm’s price target on Accenture (ACN) to $271 from $325 and keeps an Equal Weight rating on the shares. While the firm maintains Equal Weight rating on the individual U.S. IT Services stocks as it believes current expectations are muted and sees limited estimate downside, it its downgrading its U.S. IT Services outlook to Cautious due to AI crowding out IT budgets, increased pricing pressure, and ROIC dilution on the back of what the firm believes will be increased investment. The firm anticipates further downward pressure on services companies’ ROIC will keep growth rates low, limit margin expansion, and continue to pressure valuations, the analyst tells investors.