ACI Worldwide (NASDAQ:ACIW) Stock Rating Upgraded by Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of ACI Worldwide (NASDAQ:ACIW - Free Report) from a buy rating to a strong-buy rating in a research note published on Thursday morning.

Separately, DA Davidson upgraded ACI Worldwide from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $60.00 price target for the company in a report on Monday, May 12th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, three have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $60.00.

ACI Worldwide Trading Up 0.6%

Shares of NASDAQ:ACIW traded up $0.29 during trading on Thursday, reaching $46.58. 266,949 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 735,068. The firm's 50-day moving average price is $51.53 and its 200 day moving average price is $52.88. The firm has a market cap of $4.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.08 and a beta of 1.14. ACI Worldwide has a 12-month low of $33.32 and a 12-month high of $59.71. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72, a quick ratio of 1.56 and a current ratio of 1.56.

ACI Worldwide (NASDAQ:ACIW - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 8th. The technology company reported $0.51 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.33 by $0.18. ACI Worldwide had a net margin of 14.04% and a return on equity of 21.67%. The company had revenue of $394.57 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $364.36 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.10 earnings per share. ACI Worldwide's revenue for the quarter was up 24.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that ACI Worldwide will post 2 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Thomas W. Warsop III bought 5,000 shares of ACI Worldwide stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 12th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $48.57 per share, with a total value of $242,850.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 326,922 shares in the company, valued at approximately $15,878,601.54. This trade represents a 1.55% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Charles E. Peters, Jr. sold 12,940 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $57.57, for a total transaction of $744,955.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 80,842 shares of the company's stock, valued at $4,654,073.94. This trade represents a 13.80% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.00% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of ACI Worldwide

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of ACI Worldwide by 73.7% in the first quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 872 shares of the technology company's stock worth $48,000 after acquiring an additional 370 shares in the last quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in ACI Worldwide by 32.3% during the 1st quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 72,763 shares of the technology company's stock worth $3,981,000 after purchasing an additional 17,767 shares during the last quarter. Bayforest Capital Ltd grew its position in shares of ACI Worldwide by 67.7% during the first quarter. Bayforest Capital Ltd now owns 4,249 shares of the technology company's stock worth $232,000 after buying an additional 1,716 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC grew its position in shares of ACI Worldwide by 13.7% during the first quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 407,332 shares of the technology company's stock worth $22,285,000 after buying an additional 48,988 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Empowered Funds LLC increased its stake in shares of ACI Worldwide by 64.2% in the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 16,362 shares of the technology company's stock worth $895,000 after buying an additional 6,399 shares during the last quarter. 94.74% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.