Fair Isaac (NYSE:FICO) Raised to Strong-Buy at BMO Capital Markets

Fair Isaac (NYSE:FICO - Get Free Report) was upgraded by BMO Capital Markets to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Thursday,Zacks.com reports.

Several other equities research analysts have also recently issued reports on FICO. Raymond James Financial reaffirmed an "outperform" rating on shares of Fair Isaac in a research note on Wednesday, May 21st. Bank of America initiated coverage on shares of Fair Isaac in a research report on Thursday, April 10th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $2,800.00 target price on the stock. Barclays decreased their target price on shares of Fair Isaac from $2,250.00 to $2,000.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, July 9th. Needham & Company LLC reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $2,575.00 target price on shares of Fair Isaac in a research report on Friday, June 20th. Finally, Baird R W raised shares of Fair Isaac from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 28th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average price target of $2,263.29.

Fair Isaac Trading Up 0.1%

Shares of NYSE:FICO traded up $1.34 on Thursday, reaching $1,545.57. 393,630 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 204,797. Fair Isaac has a 1-year low of $1,484.29 and a 1-year high of $2,402.52. The firm has a market cap of $37.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 66.56, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.47 and a beta of 1.28. The company has a 50-day moving average of $1,845.09 and a 200-day moving average of $1,858.49.

Fair Isaac (NYSE:FICO - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The technology company reported $7.81 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $7.33 by $0.48. Fair Isaac had a net margin of 31.36% and a negative return on equity of 51.41%. The business had revenue of $498.74 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $500.45 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $6.14 EPS. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 15.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts forecast that Fair Isaac will post 24.15 earnings per share for the current year.

Fair Isaac declared that its board has approved a share repurchase program on Thursday, June 19th that permits the company to buyback $1.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the technology company to repurchase up to 2.3% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are usually an indication that the company's management believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO Steven P. Weber sold 1,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Monday, June 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,738.25, for a total transaction of $1,738,250.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 1,862 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,236,621.50. The trade was a 34.94% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO William J. Lansing sold 6,010 shares of Fair Isaac stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,767.82, for a total transaction of $10,624,598.20. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 42,138 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $74,492,399.16. This trade represents a 12.48% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 23,906 shares of company stock valued at $45,222,913. 3.46% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Fair Isaac

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Rakuten Securities Inc. grew its position in shares of Fair Isaac by 160.0% during the fourth quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. now owns 13 shares of the technology company's stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 8 shares during the last quarter. Pinnacle Holdings LLC bought a new position in shares of Fair Isaac during the fourth quarter worth about $26,000. Geo Capital Gestora de Recursos Ltd bought a new position in shares of Fair Isaac during the first quarter worth about $28,000. N.E.W. Advisory Services LLC bought a new position in shares of Fair Isaac during the first quarter worth about $30,000. Finally, Meeder Asset Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Fair Isaac by 41.7% during the first quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. now owns 17 shares of the technology company's stock worth $31,000 after acquiring an additional 5 shares during the last quarter. 85.75% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.