Zacks Research Downgrades Affirm (NASDAQ:AFRM) to Hold

Affirm (NASDAQ:AFRM) was downgraded by analysts at Zacks Research from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Wednesday,Zacks.com reports.

AFRM has been the topic of a number of other reports. Citigroup reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Affirm in a research note on Wednesday, April 15th. The Goldman Sachs Group downgraded shares of Affirm from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 24th. Citizens Jmp cut their target price on shares of Affirm from $105.00 to $85.00 and set a “market outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, April 17th. Compass Point reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $68.00 target price on shares of Affirm in a research note on Wednesday, February 18th. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Affirm from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, January 3rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nineteen have given a Buy rating and nine have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $83.76.

Affirm Price Performance

Affirm stock opened at $64.28 on Wednesday. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $51.59 and its 200-day simple moving average is $63.37. The company has a market capitalization of $21.41 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 79.36, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.44 and a beta of 3.63. Affirm has a 1 year low of $42.10 and a 1 year high of $100.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.58, a quick ratio of 11.41 and a current ratio of 11.41.

Affirm (NASDAQ:AFRM) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 5th. The company reported $0.37 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.28 by $0.09. The business 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%. The business’s revenue was up 29.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.23 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Affirm will post 1.08 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Affirm news, Director Noel Bertram Watson sold 2,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $55.00, for a total transaction of $110,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 38,076 shares in the company, valued at $2,094,180. The trade was a 4.99% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. 11.01% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in AFRM. Royal Bank of Canada grew its holdings 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 in the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC grew its holdings in 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 acquiring an additional 8,014 shares in the last quarter. Focus Partners Wealth acquired a new position in Affirm during the 1st quarter worth approximately $243,000. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Affirm by 18.5% during the 2nd quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,738 shares of the company’s stock worth $189,000 after acquiring an additional 427 shares in the last quarter. Finally, First Trust Advisors LP grew its holdings in Affirm by 44.8% during the 2nd quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 191,525 shares of the company’s stock worth $13,242,000 after acquiring an additional 59,297 shares in the last quarter. 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.