Affirm (NASDAQ:AFRM) Upgraded at Sanford C. Bernstein

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

AFRM has been the subject of several other reports. Needham & Company LLC increased their price target on shares of Affirm from $85.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, May 8th. Zacks Research lowered shares of Affirm from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 29th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of Affirm from $89.00 to $96.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 8th. Oppenheimer reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $87.00 target price on shares of Affirm in a research note on Friday, May 8th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on shares of Affirm from $80.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 8th. Two equities research 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 stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $92.63.

Affirm Trading Down 3.7%

AFRM opened at $71.21 on Tuesday. 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 has a market cap of $23.85 billion, a PE ratio of 64.74, a PEG ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 3.67. The business has a 50 day moving average of $73.83 and a 200-day moving average of $63.72.

Affirm (NASDAQ:AFRM) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 7th. The company reported $0.30 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.17 by $0.13. The company had revenue of $943.95 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $995.27 million. Affirm had a return on equity of 11.17% and a net margin of 9.63%.The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 32.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.01 earnings per share. Equities research analysts predict that Affirm will post 1.23 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other Affirm news, Director Noel Bertram Watson sold 2,000 shares of Affirm stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $65.00, for a total value of $130,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 36,076 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,344,940. The trade was a 5.25% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, COO Michael Linford sold 100,000 shares of the company’s 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 completion of 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 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. Corporate insiders own 11.01% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Affirm

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Handelsbanken Fonder AB increased its holdings in shares of Affirm by 6.5% in the 2nd quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 80,200 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,540,000 after purchasing an additional 4,900 shares in the last quarter. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Affirm during the second quarter valued at $233,000. PensionDanmark Pensionsforsikringsaktieselskab boosted its position in shares of Affirm by 9.8% during the second quarter. PensionDanmark Pensionsforsikringsaktieselskab now owns 30,310 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,472,000 after buying an additional 2,700 shares during the last quarter. Balefire LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Affirm during the second quarter valued at $248,000. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC increased its holdings in Affirm by 25.3% in the 2nd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 5,609 shares of the company’s stock worth $457,000 after buying an additional 1,134 shares in the last quarter. 69.29% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other 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.