ACI Worldwide (NASDAQ:ACIW) Stock Price Up 6.7% After Better-Than-Expected Earnings

ACI Worldwide, Inc. (NASDAQ:ACIW)’s share price was up 6.7% on Thursday following a better than expected earnings announcement. The company traded as high as $54.23 and last traded at $53.96. Approximately 163,751 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 73% from the average daily volume of 598,101 shares. The stock had previously closed at $50.58.

The technology company reported $1.00 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.73 by $0.27. ACI Worldwide had a return on equity of 21.67% and a net margin of 14.04%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Separately, DA Davidson cut ACI Worldwide from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $57.00 to $60.00 in a research report on Friday, November 8th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $49.50.

Insider Transactions at ACI Worldwide

In other ACI Worldwide news, CTO Abraham Kuruvilla sold 5,400 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $55.71, for a total value of $300,834.00. Following the transaction, the chief technology officer now owns 81,107 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,518,470.97. This represents a 6.24 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 1.00% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On ACI Worldwide

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of ACI Worldwide in the 4th quarter valued at $75,868,000. Congress Asset Management Co. bought a new stake in shares of ACI Worldwide in the fourth quarter worth $55,998,000. American Century Companies Inc. boosted its holdings in ACI Worldwide by 206.2% during the fourth quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,005,479 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $52,194,000 after purchasing an additional 677,143 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in ACI Worldwide by 18.4% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,962,449 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $154,095,000 after buying an additional 459,821 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Ameriprise Financial Inc. lifted its position in ACI Worldwide by 160.4% during the 4th quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 674,799 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $35,027,000 after buying an additional 415,612 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 94.74% of the company’s stock.

ACI Worldwide Stock Performance

The company has a current ratio of 1.56, a quick ratio of 1.56 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $52.62 and its 200 day moving average price is $51.93. The company has a market capitalization of $5.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.71 and a beta of 1.20.

ACI Worldwide Company Profile

ACI Worldwide, Inc, a software company, develops, markets, installs, and supports a range of software products and solutions for facilitating digital payments in the United States and internationally. The company operates in three segments: Banks, Merchants, and Billers. The company offers ACI Acquiring, a solution to process credit, debit, and prepaid card transactions, deliver digital innovation, and fraud prevention; ACI Issuing, a digital payment issuing solution for new payment offering; and ACI Enterprise Payments Platform that provides payment processing and orchestration capabilities for digital payments.