Affirm (NASDAQ:AFRM) Upgraded to “Overweight” at Morgan Stanley

Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of Affirm (NASDAQ:AFRM) from an equal weight rating to an overweight rating in a research note released on Tuesday morning, MarketBeat Ratings reports. The brokerage currently has $76.00 target price on the stock, down from their previous target price of $83.00.

A number of other research analysts also recently weighed in on AFRM. Cantor Fitzgerald upgraded Affirm to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 27th. Rothschild Redb raised shares of Affirm from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, October 6th. Needham & Company LLC raised shares of Affirm from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $100.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 27th. Bank of America lifted their price objective on shares of Affirm from $94.00 to $98.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 7th. Finally, TD Cowen reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Affirm in a report on Thursday, January 8th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nineteen have issued a Buy rating and eight have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $89.16.

Affirm Stock Performance

Shares of AFRM stock opened at $61.66 on Tuesday. Affirm has a 12 month low of $30.90 and a 12 month high of $100.00. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $72.13 and its 200-day simple moving average is $74.43. The firm has a market cap of $20.35 billion, a PE ratio of 92.03, a P/E/G ratio of 2.81 and a beta of 3.56. The company has a quick ratio of 12.80, a current ratio of 12.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.40.

Affirm (NASDAQ:AFRM) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 6th. The company reported $0.23 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.11 by $0.12. Affirm had a net margin of 6.74% and a return on equity of 7.75%. The firm had revenue of $933.34 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $881.83 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned ($0.31) EPS. The company’s revenue was up 33.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts expect that Affirm will post -0.18 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Max R. Levchin sold 666,666 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $80.62, for a total value of $53,746,612.92. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CFO Robert O’hare sold 36,401 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $80.00, for a total value of $2,912,080.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 1,368 shares in the company, valued at approximately $109,440. This trade represents a 96.38% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last three months, 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

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Royal Bank of Canada grew its stake in shares of Affirm by 2.1% in the first quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 193,601 shares of the company’s stock valued at $8,748,000 after acquiring an additional 3,892 shares in the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC boosted its holdings in Affirm by 90.7% in the 1st quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 16,852 shares of the company’s stock valued at $762,000 after purchasing an additional 8,014 shares during the period. Focus Partners Wealth acquired a new position in shares of Affirm during the 1st quarter worth approximately $243,000. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC bought a new position in shares of Affirm during the second quarter worth approximately $441,000. Finally, Truist Financial Corp raised its position in shares of Affirm by 236.6% in the second quarter. Truist Financial Corp now owns 60,725 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,199,000 after buying an additional 42,686 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 69.29% of the company’s stock.

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.