Affirm (NASDAQ:AFRM) Raised to Outperform at JMP Securities

Affirm (NASDAQ:AFRM) was upgraded by stock analysts at JMP Securities from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a note issued to investors on Friday,Briefing.com Automated Import reports. The brokerage currently has a $78.00 target price on the stock. JMP Securities’ target price would indicate a potential upside of 23.81% from the company’s previous close.

A number of other research firms have also commented on AFRM. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on Affirm from $52.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, November 8th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price target on shares of Affirm from $45.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday. BTIG Research raised shares of Affirm from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $68.00 price target for the company in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Affirm from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $70.00 to $82.00 in a research note on Thursday. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and set a $46.00 price objective on shares of Affirm in a research note on Friday, October 4th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Affirm currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $60.94.

Affirm Stock Performance

NASDAQ AFRM opened at $63.00 on Friday. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $57.08 and its 200 day simple moving average is $41.65. Affirm has a 1 year low of $22.25 and a 1 year high of $73.34. The company has a current ratio of 12.60, a quick ratio of 12.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.50. The firm has a market capitalization of $19.79 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -44.37 and a beta of 3.66.

Affirm (NASDAQ:AFRM) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The company reported ($0.31) EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.36) by $0.05. The company had revenue of $698.48 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $661.39 million. Affirm had a negative return on equity of 12.57% and a negative net margin of 17.67%. During the same period last year, the business posted ($0.57) EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that Affirm will post -0.53 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Noel Bertram Watson sold 2,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $72.05, for a total value of $180,125.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 41,497 shares in the company, valued at $2,989,858.85. This represents a 5.68 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, COO Michael Linford sold 400,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $68.99, for a total transaction of $27,596,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 85,420 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,893,125.80. The trade was a 82.40 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 1,300,851 shares of company stock valued at $84,875,518. 12.41% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Affirm

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of AFRM. Spyglass Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Affirm by 9.3% in the third quarter. Spyglass Capital Management LLC now owns 2,348,095 shares of the company’s stock worth $95,849,000 after purchasing an additional 200,449 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Affirm by 44.0% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,203,210 shares of the company’s stock valued at $89,935,000 after buying an additional 672,883 shares during the period. Dragoneer Investment Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Affirm in the 2nd quarter valued at $45,219,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its stake in Affirm by 25.6% in the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 866,946 shares of the company’s stock worth $26,190,000 after purchasing an additional 176,675 shares during the period. Finally, Artemis Investment Management LLP bought a new position in shares of Affirm in the 3rd quarter valued at about $30,808,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 69.29% of the company’s stock.

Affirm Company Profile

Affirm Holdings, Inc operates a platform for digital and mobile-first commerce in the United States, Canada, and internationally. The company's platform includes point-of-sale payment solution for consumers, merchant commerce solutions, and a consumer-focused app. Its commerce platform, agreements with originating banks, and capital markets partners enables consumers to pay for a purchase over time with terms ranging up to 60 months.