Affirm (NASDAQ:AFRM) Upgraded to “Strong-Buy” at Sanford C. Bernstein

Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded shares of Affirm (NASDAQ:AFRM) to a strong-buy rating in a research report sent to investors on Tuesday,Zacks.com reports.

A number of other research analysts have also recently weighed in on the company. Compass Point set a $100.00 target price on Affirm in a report on Friday, July 17th. TD Cowen upped their price target on Affirm from $90.00 to $117.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 7th. Morgan Stanley set a $79.00 price objective on Affirm and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Sunday, May 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on Affirm from $80.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 8th. Finally, Piper Sandler assumed coverage on shares of Affirm in a research report on Monday, June 29th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $103.00 price target on the stock. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-one have given a Buy rating and eight have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $92.63.

Affirm Stock Performance

Shares of AFRM stock opened at $73.92 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.39, a quick ratio of 11.32 and a current ratio of 11.32. The firm has a market capitalization of $24.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 67.20, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.06 and a beta of 3.67. Affirm has a one year low of $42.10 and a one year high of $100.00. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $73.76 and a 200 day moving average price of $63.74.

Affirm (NASDAQ:AFRM) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 7th. The company reported $0.30 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.17 by $0.13. Affirm had a net margin of 9.63% and a return on equity of 11.17%. The company had revenue of $943.95 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $995.27 million. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.01 EPS. Affirm’s revenue for the quarter was up 32.7% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Affirm will post 1.23 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Affirm

In other Affirm news, COO Michael Linford sold 100,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, June 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $80.04, for a total transaction of $8,004,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer directly owned 117,984 shares in the company, valued at $9,443,439.36. This represents a 45.87% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director Noel Bertram Watson sold 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $65.00, for a total transaction of $130,000.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 36,076 shares in the company, valued at $2,344,940. The trade was a 5.25% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Corporate insiders own 11.01% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Affirm

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of AFRM. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. boosted its position in Affirm by 83.4% during the 4th quarter. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. now owns 48,504 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,610,000 after purchasing an additional 22,054 shares during the period. Capelight Capital Asset Management LP acquired a new stake in Affirm in the fourth quarter worth $4,912,000. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in Affirm by 6.4% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 5,501,387 shares of the company’s stock worth $408,433,000 after buying an additional 329,312 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in Affirm by 1.8% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 24,847,206 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,849,378,000 after buying an additional 428,138 shares during the last quarter. Finally, J. Safra Sarasin Holding AG bought a new stake in Affirm in the fourth quarter valued at $2,861,000. 69.29% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Affirm Company Profile

Affirm Holdings, Inc is a financial technology company that provides point-of-sale consumer lending and payments solutions for online and in-store purchases. Its core product is a buy-now-pay-later (BNPL) platform that enables consumers to split purchases into fixed, transparent installment loans with no hidden fees. Affirm offers a range of financing options through merchant integrations, a consumer-facing mobile app and virtual card capabilities, and tools for merchants to offer alternative payment methods at checkout.