BMO Capital Markets Upgrades Affirm (NASDAQ:AFRM) to “Strong-Buy”

Affirm (NASDAQ:AFRM) was upgraded by equities research analysts at BMO Capital Markets to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report issued on Tuesday,Zacks.com reports.

AFRM has been the topic of a number of other research reports. Citizens Jmp reduced their target price on Affirm from $105.00 to $85.00 and set a “market outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, April 17th. Cantor Fitzgerald upped their price objective on Affirm from $61.00 to $80.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Compass Point reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $68.00 price objective on shares of Affirm in a research note on Wednesday, February 18th. UBS Group set a $78.00 price objective on Affirm in a research report on Friday, February 6th. Finally, Morgan Stanley restated an “overweight” rating on shares of Affirm in a report on Wednesday, March 4th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nineteen have assigned a Buy rating and eight have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $83.60.

Affirm Stock Performance

NASDAQ:AFRM opened at $66.58 on Tuesday. 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 company has a market capitalization of $22.18 billion, a P/E ratio of 82.20, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.50 and a beta of 3.63. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $50.02 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $63.76. Affirm has a twelve month low of $42.10 and a twelve month high of $100.00.

Affirm (NASDAQ:AFRM) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 5th. The company reported $0.37 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.28 by $0.09. The company had revenue of $1.12 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.06 billion. Affirm had a net margin of 7.60% and a return on equity of 8.83%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.23 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 29.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts expect that Affirm will post 1.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Noel Bertram Watson sold 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $55.00, for a total transaction of $110,000.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 38,076 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,094,180. This represents a 4.99% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders own 11.01% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Royal Bank of Canada boosted its position 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 worth $8,748,000 after acquiring an additional 3,892 shares during the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC raised its stake in Affirm by 90.7% during the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 16,852 shares of the company’s stock worth $762,000 after purchasing an additional 8,014 shares during the period. Focus Partners Wealth acquired a new position in shares of Affirm in the 1st quarter valued at $243,000. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Affirm by 18.5% in the 2nd quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,738 shares of the company’s stock valued at $189,000 after purchasing an additional 427 shares during the last quarter. Finally, First Trust Advisors LP grew its stake in shares of Affirm by 44.8% during the 2nd quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 191,525 shares of the company’s stock valued at $13,242,000 after buying an additional 59,297 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.