Afya (NASDAQ:AFYA) Stock Rating Raised to Overweight at JPMorgan Chase & Co.

Afya (NASDAQ:AFYA) was upgraded by equities research analysts at JPMorgan Chase & Co. from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating in a research note issued to investors on Wednesday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a $19.00 price target on the stock, down from their previous price target of $21.00. JPMorgan Chase & Co.‘s price target suggests a potential upside of 36.59% from the stock’s previous close.

Other analysts also recently issued research reports about the company. Zacks Research raised Afya from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday. Bank of America reissued a “neutral” rating on shares of Afya in a research report on Thursday, June 11th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Afya from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, September 5th. Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of Afya from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a report on Friday, July 31st. Finally, Bradesco Corretora raised shares of Afya to an “outperform” rating and set a $17.00 price target on the stock in a report on Thursday, September 24th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $17.25.

Afya Stock Up 4.5%

AFYA stock opened at $13.91 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39, a current ratio of 2.20 and a quick ratio of 2.20. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.30 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.48, a P/E/G ratio of 1.49 and a beta of 0.34. Afya has a fifty-two week low of $11.62 and a fifty-two week high of $16.16. The business has a 50-day moving average of $13.78 and a 200-day moving average of $14.26.

Afya (NASDAQ:AFYA) last released its earnings results on Friday, August 14th. The company reported $0.43 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.40 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $187.80 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $189.62 million. Afya had a return on equity of 17.58% and a net margin of 20.55%. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Afya will post 1.86 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Santos Welder Ferreira sold 4,161 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $13.30, for a total value of $55,341.30. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 35,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $465,500. The trade was a 10.63% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio acquired a new stake in Afya during the second quarter worth about $67,000. Engineers Gate Manager LP bought a new stake in shares of Afya during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $325,000. Finally, Banco BTG Pactual S.A. acquired a new stake in shares of Afya during the 4th quarter worth approximately $462,000. Institutional investors own 88.02% of the company’s stock.

About Afya

Afya Limited (NASDAQ: AFYA) is a Brazil-based medical education and health technology company. The company provides education and professional development for physicians and other healthcare professionals, with activities spanning undergraduate medical programs, medical residency preparation, specialization courses, continuing medical education and digital learning services.

Afya also develops technology-enabled products designed to support healthcare professionals throughout their careers.