Fair Isaac (NYSE:FICO) Stock Rating Upgraded by Zacks Research

Key Points

• Zacks Research upgraded Fair Isaac from “strong sell” to “hold.” Across analysts, the consensus rating is also “hold,” with an average price target of $917.44, though several firms recently cut their targets.
• Fair Isaac reported quarterly earnings of $11.10 per share, beating estimates of $10.69, while revenue rose 27.4% year over year to $657.05 million.
• FICO shares traded at $719.50, near the lower end of their 52-week range of $586.05 to $1,858.91.

Fair Isaac (NYSE:FICO - Get Free Report) was upgraded by investment analysts at Zacks Research from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report released on Thursday, Zacks reports.

FICO has been the topic of several other reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on Fair Isaac from $900.00 to $800.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, November 5th. Raymond James Financial lowered their target price on Fair Isaac from $1,750.00 to $1,230.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, October 13th. Needham & Company LLC lowered their target price on Fair Isaac from $1,100.00 to $925.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, November 5th. BMO Capital Markets dropped their target price on shares of Fair Isaac from $1,150.00 to $897.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Monday, October 26th. Finally, Susquehanna set a $700.00 price target on shares of Fair Isaac in a research note on Wednesday, September 30th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have assigned a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $917.44.

Fair Isaac Stock Up 0.3%

Shares of FICO stock traded up $2.12 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $719.50. The company's stock had a trading volume of 502,183 shares, compared to its average volume of 796,096. Fair Isaac has a fifty-two week low of $586.05 and a fifty-two week high of $1,858.91. The firm's 50 day simple moving average is $787.56 and its 200-day simple moving average is $1,086.55. The company has a market capitalization of $15.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.81, a PEG ratio of 1.05 and a beta of 1.36.

Fair Isaac (NYSE:FICO - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 4th. The technology company reported $11.10 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $10.69 by $0.41. Fair Isaac had a negative return on equity of 28.19% and a net margin of 32.94%. The company had revenue of $657.05 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $651.73 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $7.74 EPS. Fair Isaac's revenue was up 27.4% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts predict that Fair Isaac will post 40.32 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO William Lansing sold 10,683 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $721.30, for a total transaction of $7,705,647.90. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 250 shares in the company, valued at approximately $180,325. This represents a 97.71% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold 20,715 shares of company stock worth $14,986,239 in the last three months. 3.02% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Fair Isaac

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Keating Financial Advisory Services Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Fair Isaac during the second quarter valued at about $30,000. Western Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Fair Isaac during the first quarter worth about $29,000. Versant Capital Management Inc grew its holdings in shares of Fair Isaac by 120.0% during the second quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 44 shares of the technology company's stock worth $53,000 after purchasing an additional 24 shares during the last quarter. Clearstead Trust LLC acquired a new position in shares of Fair Isaac in the second quarter valued at approximately $100,000. Finally, Eastern Bank increased its stake in shares of Fair Isaac by 177.1% in the second quarter. Eastern Bank now owns 97 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $116,000 after buying an additional 62 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 85.75% of the company's stock.

Fair Isaac Company Profile

Fair Isaac Corporation, commonly known as FICO, develops analytics software and data-driven decision tools for businesses and consumers. Founded in 1956 by engineer Bill Fair and mathematician Earl Isaac, the company was formerly known as Fair, Isaac and Company. FICO is best known for its FICO Score, which lenders use to help assess consumer credit risk. The company also provides software for managing customer decisions and optimizing processes such as lending, fraud detection, identity verification, and collections.

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