Fair Isaac (NYSE:FICO) Sets New 1-Year High Following Analyst Upgrade

Fair Isaac Co. (NYSE:FICO) shares hit 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 traded. The stock had previously closed at $1,943.52.

Several other brokerages also recently commented on FICO. Barclays increased their target price on shares of Fair Isaac from $1,800.00 to $2,150.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, September 13th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on shares of 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. Robert W. Baird upped their target price on Fair Isaac from $1,264.00 to $1,700.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Wolfe Research initiated coverage on Fair Isaac in a report on Tuesday, July 9th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $1,725.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on Fair Isaac from $2,100.00 to $2,200.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $1,775.25.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Fair Isaac news, CFO Steven P. Weber sold 1,800 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,735.00, for a total transaction of $3,123,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 575 shares in the company, valued at $997,625. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other Fair Isaac news, CFO Steven P. Weber sold 1,800 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, August 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,735.00, for a total transaction of $3,123,000.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 575 shares in the company, valued at $997,625. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director James Kirsner sold 3,000 shares of Fair Isaac stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 7th. The shares were 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $22,065,174.12. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 15,261 shares of company stock valued at $26,291,370. 3.54% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Fair Isaac

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Commerce Bank increased its stake in Fair Isaac by 704.8% in the 1st quarter. Commerce Bank now owns 6,084 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $7,603,000 after acquiring an additional 5,328 shares during the last quarter. Seven Eight Capital LP raised its stake in Fair Isaac by 140.0% in the fourth quarter. Seven Eight Capital LP now owns 1,440 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $1,676,000 after purchasing an additional 840 shares in the last quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets lifted its position in Fair Isaac by 44.5% during the first quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 29,516 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $36,883,000 after purchasing an additional 9,094 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in Fair Isaac by 1.3% in the 1st 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. Finally, Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its holdings in shares of Fair Isaac by 25.4% in the 1st 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 last quarter. Institutional investors own 85.75% of the company’s stock.

Fair Isaac Stock Performance

The stock has a market cap of $47.89 billion, a PE ratio of 101.74, a PEG ratio of 4.69 and a beta of 1.34. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $1,767.57 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $1,492.25.

Fair Isaac (NYSE:FICO) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 31st. The technology company reported $4.99 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.33 by ($0.34). The firm 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%. Equities research analysts forecast that Fair Isaac Co. will post 19.19 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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

Fair Isaac Company Profile

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.