Afya (NASDAQ:AFYA) Stock Rating Upgraded by Zacks Research

Afya (NASDAQ:AFYA) was upgraded by stock analysts at Zacks Research from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note issued on Tuesday,Zacks.com reports.

Other equities research analysts have also recently issued research reports about the company. Bank of America cut Afya from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their target price for the stock from $22.00 to $17.00 in a research report on Tuesday, February 24th. UBS Group reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $16.00 target price (down from $18.00) on shares of Afya in a research report on Friday, January 16th. Wall Street Zen raised Afya from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, March 14th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Afya in a research report on Wednesday, January 21st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $22.00 price objective (down from $24.50) on shares of Afya in a research report on Wednesday, January 7th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has issued a Buy rating and six have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $17.30.

Afya Trading Down 0.4%

Shares of NASDAQ AFYA opened at $14.94 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $1.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.23, a PEG ratio of 0.67 and a beta of 0.48. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $14.48 and a 200 day simple moving average of $14.69. Afya has a 52 week low of $13.00 and a 52 week high of $19.90. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a current ratio of 2.20.

Afya (NASDAQ:AFYA) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, March 11th. The company reported $0.41 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.36 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $147.08 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $174.74 million. Afya had a return on equity of 18.77% and a net margin of 20.31%. On average, research analysts predict that Afya will post 1.52 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Afya

In related news, CEO Virgilio Deloy Capobian Gibbon sold 20,900 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $14.94, for a total value of $312,246.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 109,218 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,631,716.92. This represents a 16.06% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Insiders sold 48,190 shares of company stock valued at $721,821 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.80% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. XTX Topco Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Afya in the fourth quarter valued at $215,000. Mangrove Partners IM LLC acquired a new position in shares of Afya in the fourth quarter valued at $197,000. State Street Corp raised its stake in shares of Afya by 25.8% in the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 126,914 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,955,000 after purchasing an additional 26,005 shares in the last quarter. Campbell & CO Investment Adviser LLC raised its stake in shares of Afya by 45.3% in the fourth quarter. Campbell & CO Investment Adviser LLC now owns 39,683 shares of the company’s stock valued at $612,000 after purchasing an additional 12,365 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Banco BTG Pactual S.A. acquired a new position in shares of Afya in the fourth quarter valued at $462,000. 88.02% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Afya Company Profile

Afya Ltd. operates as a leading provider of medical education and training services in Brazil. The company offers a comprehensive suite of educational programs that span undergraduate medical degrees, residency exam preparation, continuing medical education (CME) and digital learning platforms. Through a network of partner institutions and its own campus operations, Afya supports students at every stage of the medical training continuum, from enrollment in medical schools to ongoing professional development for practicing physicians.

At the core of Afya’s offerings is its undergraduate medical program, delivered through a combination of in-person courses at affiliated campuses and fully digital curricula.