Affirm (NASDAQ:AFRM) Upgraded at Barclays

Key Points

• Barclays upgraded Affirm to “strong-buy”, adding to a generally positive analyst outlook. The stock now carries a “Moderate Buy” consensus with an average target price of $90.35.
• Affirm shares were up 3.1% and opened at $83.78 on Wednesday. The company’s recent trading range includes a 52-week low of $42.10 and high of $100.00.
• The company’s latest earnings beat expectations, with $0.30 EPS versus the $0.17 consensus estimate. Revenue rose 32.7% year over year to $943.95 million, though it came in below analysts’ forecast.

Affirm (NASDAQ:AFRM - Get Free Report) was upgraded by equities research analysts at Barclays to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report issued on Wednesday,Zacks.com reports.

A number of other brokerages also recently commented on AFRM. Oppenheimer reiterated an "outperform" rating and issued a $87.00 target price on shares of Affirm in a report on Friday, May 8th. Citizens Jmp decreased their price target on Affirm from $105.00 to $85.00 and set a "market outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, April 17th. Susquehanna raised 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. Weiss Ratings restated a "hold (c-)" rating on shares of Affirm in a research note on Wednesday, June 24th. Finally, Citigroup upped their price objective on shares of Affirm from $100.00 to $115.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 1st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty have assigned a Buy rating and eight have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $90.35.

Affirm Trading Up 3.1%

AFRM opened at $83.78 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $28.06 billion, a P/E ratio of 76.16, a PEG 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 52 week low of $42.10 and a 52 week high of $100.00. The stock's fifty day moving average is $71.27 and its two-hundred day moving average is $63.53.

Affirm (NASDAQ:AFRM - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 7th. The company reported $0.30 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.17 by $0.13. Affirm had a return on equity of 11.17% and a net margin of 9.63%.The firm had revenue of $943.95 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $995.27 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.01 earnings per share. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 32.7% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts forecast that Affirm will post 1.24 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Affirm

In other Affirm news, COO Michael Linford sold 100,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $80.04, for a total transaction of $8,004,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer owned 117,984 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,443,439.36. This represents a 45.87% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 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 that occurred on Wednesday, May 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $65.00, for a total value of $130,000.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 36,076 shares in the company, valued at $2,344,940. This trade represents a 5.25% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 104,000 shares of company stock valued at $8,244,000. Company insiders own 11.01% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Affirm

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Affirm during the 4th quarter worth $281,961,000. Invesco Ltd. raised its position in Affirm by 294.2% in the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 4,333,691 shares of the company's stock valued at $316,706,000 after purchasing an additional 3,234,260 shares during the period. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. lifted its position in Affirm by 11,042.3% in the fourth quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 2,161,278 shares of the company's stock valued at $157,004,000 after buying an additional 2,141,881 shares during the last quarter. Atreides Management LP lifted its holdings in shares of Affirm by 543.3% in the 2nd quarter. Atreides Management LP now owns 1,977,882 shares of the company's stock worth $136,751,000 after acquiring an additional 1,670,429 shares during the last quarter. Finally, State Street Corp lifted its stake in Affirm by 26.7% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 5,641,965 shares of the company's stock worth $412,315,000 after purchasing an additional 1,187,665 shares in the last quarter. 69.29% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.

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