ACN Stock Shifts Higher on Bull Note

Argus lifted its price target to $235 from $220

Argus just gifted a post-Christmas bull note to Ireland-based IT concern Accenture Plc (NYSE:ACN) this morning, right on the heels of last week's fiscal first-quarter earnings beat and raise. The analyst maintained its "buy" rating, and hiked its price target to $235 from $220 -- an 11% premium to Tuesday night's close. Despite this, the shares of ACN are flat this morning.

On the charts, ACN has been running higher for the better part of this year, with its 180-day moving average capturing its most recent pullback in October. In fact, the shares touched an all-time intraday high of $213.25 this past Friday, and notched a record close just south of this region at $211.61, on Christmas Eve. For the year, Accenture boasts a 50.1% year-to-date gain.

Argus' bull note is in good company, with 12 of the 15 analysts in coverage handing out a "buy" or better rating. Further, the stock's consensus 12-month price target is hovering directly north of current levels at $219.50.

Options traders are sharing in this optimism, per the equity's 50-day call/put volume ratio of 1.34 at the the International Securities Exchange (ISE), Cboe Options Exchange (CBOE), and NASDAQ OMX PHLX (PHLX). What's more, this ratio sits higher than 96% of all other readings from the past year, indicating a much heavier than usual appetite for bullish bets of late.