The 700+ hedge funds and money managers tracked by Insider Monkey have already compiled and submitted their 13F filings for the third quarter, which unveiled their equity positions as of September 30. We went through these filings and identified the changes in hedge fund positions. Our extensive review of these public filings is finally over, so this article is set to reveal the smart money sentiment towards Fair Isaac Corporation (NYSE:FICO).
Is Fair Isaac Corporation (NYSE:FICO) a cheap investment right now? Prominent investors are buying. The number of bullish hedge fund bets went up by 1 lately. FICO was in 19 hedge funds’ portfolios at the end of September. There were 18 hedge funds in our database with FICO holdings at the end of the previous quarter. At the end of this article we will also compare FICO to other stocks including American National Insurance Company (NASDAQ:ANAT), Blackbaud, Inc. (NASDAQ:BLKB), and ProAssurance Corporation (NYSE:PRA) to get a better sense of its popularity.
Follow Fair Isaac Corp (NYSE:FICO)
Follow Fair Isaac Corp (NYSE:FICO)
Today there are many signals shareholders can use to appraise stocks. Some of the less known signals are hedge fund and insider trading interest. Our experts have shown that, historically, those who follow the best picks of the best money managers can outclass the market by a healthy margin (see the details here).
With all of this in mind, we’re going to take a peek at the latest action regarding Fair Isaac Corporation (NYSE:FICO).
How are hedge funds trading Fair Isaac Corporation (NYSE:FICO)?
At Q3’s end, a total of 19 of the hedge funds tracked by Insider Monkey held long positions in this stock, a 6% uptick from the previous quarter. With the smart money’s sentiment swirling, there exists an “upper tier” of key hedge fund managers who were boosting their holdings considerably (or had already accumulated large positions).
According to Insider Monkey’s hedge fund database, Royce & Associates, managed by Chuck Royce, holds the biggest position in Fair Isaac Corporation (NYSE:FICO). Royce & Associates has a $95.7 million position in the stock, comprising 0.5% of its 13F portfolio. Coming in second is Jesse Ro’s Tiger Legatus Capital, with a $30.8 million position; 10.9% of its 13F portfolio is allocated to the company. Some other peers that are bullish comprise Cliff Asness’ AQR Capital Management, Ed Bosek’s BeaconLight Capital, and Lee Munder’s Lee Munder Capital Group.
With general bullishness amongst the heavyweights, key hedge funds have been driving this bullishness. Sandler Capital Management, managed by Andrew Sandler, created the largest position in Fair Isaac Corporation (NYSE:FICO). Sandler Capital Management had $6.6 million invested in the company at the end of the quarter. Glenn Russell Dubin’s Highbridge Capital Management also made a $1.2 million investment in the stock during the quarter. The following funds were also among the new FICO investors: Joel Greenblatt’s Gotham Asset Management, Ray Dalio’s Bridgewater Associates, and David Costen Haley’s HBK Investments.
Let’s check out hedge fund activity in other stocks – not necessarily in the same industry as Fair Isaac Corporation (NYSE:FICO) but similarly valued. These stocks are American National Insurance Company (NASDAQ:ANAT), Blackbaud, Inc. (NASDAQ:BLKB), ProAssurance Corporation (NYSE:PRA), and Valero Energy Partners LP (NYSE:VLP). This group of stocks’ market valuations match FICO’s market valuation.
| Ticker | No of HFs with positions | Total Value of HF Positions (x1000) | Change in HF Position |
|---|---|---|---|
| ANAT | 16 | 43790 | 3 |
| BLKB | 15 | 136813 | 4 |
| PRA | 14 | 126443 | 0 |
| VLP | 5 | 4475 | 0 |
As you can see these stocks had an average of 13 hedge funds with bullish positions and the average amount invested in these stocks was $78 million. That figure was $269 million in FICO’s case. American National Insurance Company (NASDAQ:ANAT) is the most popular stock in this table. On the other hand Valero Energy Partners LP (NYSE:VLP) is the least popular one with only 5 bullish hedge fund positions. Compared to these stocks Fair Isaac Corporation (NYSE:FICO) is more popular among hedge funds and has far more more invested in it. Considering that hedge funds are fond of this stock in relation to its market cap peers, it may be a good idea to analyze it in detail and potentially include it in your portfolio.
