Fair Isaac (NYSE:FICO) Hits New 12-Month High Following Analyst Upgrade

Fair Isaac Co. (NYSE:FICO) shares hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Thursday after Needham & Company LLC raised their price target on the stock from $1,850.00 to $2,500.00. Needham & Company LLC currently has a buy rating on the stock. Fair Isaac traded as high as $2,173.84 and last traded at $2,079.09, with a volume of 21458 shares. The stock had previously closed at $2,090.63.

Several other brokerages have also recently issued reports on FICO. Robert W. Baird lifted their target price on shares of Fair Isaac from $1,700.00 to $2,000.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday. Barclays boosted their price target on shares of Fair Isaac from $2,150.00 to $2,350.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on shares of Fair Isaac from $2,200.00 to $2,400.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday. Oppenheimer boosted their price target on shares of Fair Isaac from $1,967.00 to $2,109.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. Finally, UBS Group started coverage on shares of Fair Isaac in a research report on Tuesday, October 1st. They set a “neutral” rating and a $2,100.00 price target on the stock. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $1,964.92.

Insider Buying and Selling at Fair Isaac

In other Fair Isaac news, Director Joanna Rees sold 3,961 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other Fair Isaac news, EVP Thomas A. Bowers sold 3,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,715.27, for a total transaction of $5,145,810.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 5,769 shares in the company, valued at $9,895,392.63. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Joanna Rees sold 3,961 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 5th. The stock was 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. 3.54% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Fair Isaac

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Fair Isaac by 1.3% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 2,855,775 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $3,568,605,000 after buying an additional 35,263 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its stake in shares of Fair Isaac by 25.4% during the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 861,283 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $1,076,268,000 after buying an additional 174,397 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Fair Isaac by 189,461.6% during the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 538,355 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $1,046,304,000 after buying an additional 538,071 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Fair Isaac by 0.5% during the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 372,582 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $724,122,000 after buying an additional 1,977 shares during the period. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. increased its stake in shares of Fair Isaac by 6.7% during the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 345,628 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $514,523,000 after buying an additional 21,768 shares during the period. 85.75% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Fair Isaac Price Performance

The stock’s 50 day moving average is $1,947.74 and its two-hundred day moving average is $1,641.34. The stock has a market capitalization of $57.13 billion, a PE ratio of 122.51, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.68 and a beta of 1.35.

Fair Isaac (NYSE:FICO) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The technology company reported $5.34 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.44 by ($0.10). The business had revenue of $453.81 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $454.78 million. Fair Isaac had a net margin of 28.94% and a negative return on equity of 60.67%. On average, equities analysts predict that Fair Isaac Co. will post 19.33 earnings per share for the current year.

Fair Isaac declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share buyback plan on Tuesday, July 30th that allows the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the technology company to repurchase up to 2.6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are typically a sign that the company’s leadership believes its stock is 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.