Mizuho Has Lowered Expectations for Affirm (NASDAQ:AFRM) Stock Price

Key Points

• Mizuho cut its target on Affirm from $114 to $95 while keeping an "outperform" rating, with that target implying roughly a 66.6% upside from the stock's current price.
• Affirm beat the quarter—EPS $0.37 vs. $0.28 estimate and revenue $1.12B (up 29.6% year-over-year)—but analysts still forecast a -$0.18 EPS for the current year.
• Company insiders have been selling heavily: CEO Max Levchin sold 666,666 shares (~$53.7M) and insiders sold 711,256 shares (~$57.2M) in the last 90 days, though insiders still own about 11.0% of the stock.

Affirm (NASDAQ:AFRM - Get Free Report) had its target price dropped by analysts at Mizuho from $114.00 to $95.00 in a note issued to investors on Monday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an "outperform" rating on the stock. Mizuho's price objective indicates a potential upside of 66.58% from the stock's current price.

Several other research firms have also issued reports on AFRM. Evercore restated an "outperform" rating on shares of Affirm in a research report on Tuesday, December 16th. Wolfe Research started coverage on Affirm in a report on Tuesday, December 9th. They set a "peer perform" rating on the stock. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a "hold (c-)" rating on shares of Affirm in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Royal Bank Of Canada reduced their price objective on shares of Affirm from $87.00 to $77.00 and set a "sector perform" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday. Finally, Stephens decreased their price objective on shares of Affirm from $75.00 to $65.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a report on Friday. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nineteen have given a Buy rating and seven have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $86.67.

Affirm Stock Down 4.0%

Shares of NASDAQ AFRM opened at $57.03 on Monday. Affirm has a 1 year low of $30.90 and a 1 year high of $100.00. The firm's 50-day moving average is $71.53 and its 200-day moving average is $74.29. The company has a current ratio of 11.41, a quick ratio of 11.41 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.58. The firm has a market capitalization of $18.82 billion, a PE ratio of 70.41, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.51 and a beta of 3.56.

Affirm (NASDAQ:AFRM - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 5th. The company reported $0.37 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.28 by $0.09. Affirm had a net margin of 7.60% and a return on equity of 8.83%. The business had revenue of $1.12 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.06 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.23 earnings per share. Affirm's revenue was up 29.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts expect that Affirm will post -0.18 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Max R. Levchin sold 666,666 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, January 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $80.62, for a total value of $53,746,612.92. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Robert O'hare sold 36,401 shares of Affirm stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $80.00, for a total value of $2,912,080.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 1,368 shares in the company, valued at $109,440. This represents a 96.38% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 711,256 shares of company stock worth $57,231,923. Insiders own 11.01% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of AFRM. Royal Bank of Canada boosted its position in Affirm by 2.1% during the 1st quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 193,601 shares of the company's stock worth $8,748,000 after acquiring an additional 3,892 shares during the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC boosted its stake in shares of Affirm by 90.7% during the 1st quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 16,852 shares of the company's stock worth $762,000 after buying an additional 8,014 shares during the last quarter. Focus Partners Wealth bought a new position in shares of Affirm in the 1st quarter valued at about $243,000. Prime Capital Investment Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Affirm during the second quarter worth about $224,000. Finally, Maryland State Retirement & Pension System grew its stake in Affirm by 7.6% in the second quarter. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System now owns 13,041 shares of the company's stock valued at $902,000 after purchasing an additional 926 shares in the last quarter. 69.29% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.