Affirm (NASDAQ:AFRM) Raised to “Strong-Buy” at Barclays

Affirm (NASDAQ:AFRM) was upgraded by investment analysts at Barclays to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report issued on Wednesday,Zacks.com reports.

Several other equities research analysts have also commented on AFRM. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their target price on Affirm from $90.00 to $106.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday. Robert W. Baird set a $70.00 price target on Affirm in a research note on Friday, May 8th. Susquehanna increased their price target on Affirm from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a report on Thursday, June 25th. Oppenheimer restated an “outperform” rating and set a $87.00 price target on shares of Affirm in a report on Friday, May 8th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Affirm in a research report on Wednesday, June 24th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty have given a Buy rating and eight have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $90.35.

Affirm Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ AFRM opened at $83.78 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $28.06 billion, a PE ratio of 76.16, a P/E/G ratio of 3.35 and a beta of 3.67. The company has a quick ratio of 11.32, a current ratio of 11.32 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.39. Affirm has a twelve month low of $42.10 and a twelve month high of $100.00. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $71.27 and a 200 day simple moving average of $63.53.

Affirm (NASDAQ:AFRM) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 7th. The company reported $0.30 EPS 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 business had revenue of $943.95 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $995.27 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.01 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 32.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Affirm will post 1.24 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Affirm news, Director Noel Bertram Watson sold 2,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $65.00, for a total value of $130,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 36,076 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,344,940. This trade represents a 5.25% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, COO Michael Linford sold 100,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $80.04, for a total value of $8,004,000.00. Following the sale, the chief operating officer owned 117,984 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,443,439.36. This represents a 45.87% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold 104,000 shares of company stock valued at $8,244,000 in the last three months. Insiders own 11.01% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Affirm

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Affirm by 1.8% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 24,847,206 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,849,378,000 after purchasing an additional 428,138 shares in the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors grew its position in Affirm by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 23,145,942 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,722,797,000 after purchasing an additional 104,239 shares in the last quarter. Capital World Investors increased its stake in Affirm by 2.4% in the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 21,710,914 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,615,953,000 after buying an additional 507,224 shares during the last quarter. Durable Capital Partners LP increased its stake in Affirm by 12.3% in the 2nd quarter. Durable Capital Partners LP now owns 7,389,337 shares of the company’s stock valued at $510,899,000 after buying an additional 808,455 shares during the last quarter. Finally, State Street Corp lifted its position in shares of Affirm by 26.7% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 5,641,965 shares of the company’s stock worth $412,315,000 after buying an additional 1,187,665 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 69.29% of the company’s stock.

About Affirm

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.