Fair Isaac (NYSE:FICO) Sets New 12-Month High on Analyst Upgrade

Fair Isaac Co. (NYSE:FICO)’s stock price reached a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Tuesday after The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target on the stock from $1,879.00 to $2,130.00. The Goldman Sachs Group currently has a buy rating on the stock. Fair Isaac traded as high as $1,962.96 and last traded at $1,920.93, with a volume of 12076 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $1,943.52.

Several other brokerages also recently issued reports on FICO. Needham & Company LLC raised their price objective on shares of Fair Isaac from $1,500.00 to $1,850.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. Wolfe Research initiated coverage on shares of Fair Isaac in a report on Tuesday, July 9th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $1,725.00 target price on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price target on Fair Isaac from $1,350.00 to $1,500.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. UBS Group assumed coverage on Fair Isaac in a research note on Tuesday. They set a “neutral” rating and a $2,100.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Robert W. Baird boosted their target price on shares of Fair Isaac from $1,264.00 to $1,700.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $1,775.25.

Insider Transactions at Fair Isaac

In other news, Director James Kirsner sold 3,000 shares of Fair Isaac stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,697.06, for a total value of $5,091,180.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 13,002 shares in the company, valued at approximately $22,065,174.12. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. In other news, Director James Kirsner sold 3,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,697.06, for a total value of $5,091,180.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 13,002 shares in the company, valued at approximately $22,065,174.12. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Joanna Rees sold 3,961 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,750.00, for a total transaction of $6,931,750.00. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 15,261 shares of company stock worth $26,291,370. Insiders own 3.54% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Fair Isaac

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of FICO. Bank of Nova Scotia grew its position in Fair Isaac by 122.6% in the 4th quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia now owns 5,043 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $5,870,000 after purchasing an additional 2,778 shares during the period. KBC Group NV lifted its position in shares of Fair Isaac by 40.1% in the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 8,900 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $10,360,000 after acquiring an additional 2,549 shares in the last quarter. NEOS Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Fair Isaac by 109.7% in the fourth quarter. NEOS Investment Management LLC now owns 543 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $632,000 after acquiring an additional 284 shares during the period. Rafferty Asset Management LLC grew its position in shares of Fair Isaac by 16.9% during the fourth quarter. Rafferty Asset Management LLC now owns 8,155 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $9,493,000 after purchasing an additional 1,176 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Royal London Asset Management Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of Fair Isaac by 3.3% in the fourth quarter. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. now owns 9,572 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $11,142,000 after buying an additional 308 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 85.75% of the company’s stock.

Fair Isaac Stock Performance

The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $1,767.57 and its 200-day simple moving average is $1,492.25. The company has a market capitalization of $47.89 billion, a P/E ratio of 101.74, a P/E/G ratio of 4.69 and a beta of 1.34.

Fair Isaac (NYSE:FICO) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The technology company reported $4.99 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.33 by ($0.34). The business had revenue of $447.85 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $448.53 million. Fair Isaac had a net margin of 28.94% and a negative return on equity of 60.67%. As a group, analysts forecast that Fair Isaac Co. will post 19.19 EPS for the current year.

Fair Isaac announced that its board has authorized a stock repurchase program on Tuesday, July 30th that allows the company to buyback $1.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the technology company to purchase up to 2.6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are usually an indication that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

About Fair Isaac

Fair Isaac Corporation develops analytic, software, and digital decisioning technologies and services that enable businesses to automate, enhance, and connect decisions in the Americas, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and the Asia Pacific. The company operates in two segments, Scores and Software. The Software segment provides pre-configured analytic and decision management solution designed for various business needs or processes, such as account origination, customer management, customer engagement, fraud detection, financial crimes compliance, and marketing, as well as associated professional services.