Brown Advisory Inc. Acquires New Stake in ACI Worldwide, Inc. (NASDAQ:ACIW)

Brown Advisory Inc. acquired a new stake in ACI Worldwide, Inc. (NASDAQ:ACIW) during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund acquired 6,197 shares of the technology company’s stock, valued at approximately $339,000.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in ACIW. Norges Bank acquired a new position in ACI Worldwide in the 4th quarter valued at about $75,868,000. American Century Companies Inc. boosted its holdings in ACI Worldwide by 206.2% in the 4th quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,005,479 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $52,194,000 after purchasing an additional 677,143 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings 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 purchasing an additional 459,821 shares during the period. Ameriprise Financial Inc. boosted its holdings in ACI Worldwide by 160.4% in the 4th quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 674,799 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $35,027,000 after purchasing an additional 415,612 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE lifted its holdings in shares of ACI Worldwide by 267.7% during the 4th quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 563,335 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $29,243,000 after acquiring an additional 410,142 shares during the period. 94.74% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Wall Street Zen raised shares of ACI Worldwide from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, May 22nd. Jefferies Financial Group cut their price target on shares of ACI Worldwide from $68.00 to $60.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, May 27th. Finally, DA Davidson raised shares of 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 research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, three have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $60.00.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Mary P. Harman sold 7,194 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $47.48, for a total transaction of $341,571.12. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 34,388 shares in the company, valued at $1,632,742.24. This represents a 17.30% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Janet O. Estep sold 4,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, June 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $44.66, for a total transaction of $200,970.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 77,631 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,467,000.46. This represents a 5.48% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.10% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

ACI Worldwide Price Performance

ACIW stock opened at $43.78 on Wednesday. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $46.51 and a 200 day simple moving average of $50.61. The stock has a market cap of $4.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.24 and a beta of 1.06. ACI Worldwide, Inc. has a 1 year low of $40.94 and a 1 year high of $59.71. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55, a current ratio of 1.50 and a quick ratio of 1.50.

ACI Worldwide (NASDAQ:ACIW) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 8th. The technology company reported $0.51 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.33 by $0.18. The business had revenue of $394.57 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $364.36 million. ACI Worldwide had a net margin of 16.12% and a return on equity of 20.94%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 24.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.10 EPS. Research analysts anticipate that ACI Worldwide, Inc. will post 2 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.