Fair Isaac (NYSE:FICO) Hits New 52-Week High Following Analyst Upgrade

Fair Isaac Co. (NYSE:FICO) reached a new 52-week high during 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 changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $2,090.63.

FICO has been the topic of a number of other reports. Robert W. Baird raised their price objective on shares of Fair Isaac from $1,700.00 to $2,000.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday. Barclays raised 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. UBS Group started coverage on Fair Isaac in a research note on Tuesday, October 1st. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $2,100.00 target price on the stock. Oppenheimer lifted their price target on Fair Isaac from $1,967.00 to $2,109.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective on Fair Isaac from $2,130.00 to $2,374.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Fair Isaac has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $1,964.92.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Fair Isaac news, EVP Thomas A. Bowers sold 3,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 12th. The stock was 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $9,895,392.63. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other Fair Isaac news, EVP Thomas A. Bowers sold 3,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,715.27, for a total value of $5,145,810.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 5,769 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,895,392.63. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Joanna Rees sold 3,961 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,750.00, for a total value of $6,931,750.00. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 3.54% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Fair Isaac

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of FICO. Swedbank AB raised its holdings in Fair Isaac by 11.5% in the 3rd quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 9,822 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $19,089,000 after acquiring an additional 1,013 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position 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 in the last quarter. 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. Great Valley Advisor Group Inc. acquired a new stake in Fair Isaac in the second quarter valued at approximately $529,000. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC grew its holdings in Fair Isaac by 327.1% during the 1st quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 9,985 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $12,477,000 after acquiring an additional 7,647 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.75% of the company’s stock.

Fair Isaac Stock Performance

The company has a market capitalization of $53.37 billion, a PE ratio of 114.44, a P/E/G ratio of 3.68 and a beta of 1.35. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $1,935.74 and its 200 day simple moving average is $1,633.15.

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

Fair Isaac declared that its board has authorized a share buyback program on Tuesday, July 30th that authorizes the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the technology company to repurchase up to 2.6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are typically an indication 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.