Afya Limited (NASDAQ:AFYA) Given Average Rating of "Strong Sell" by Analysts

Shares of Afya Limited (NASDAQ:AFYA - Get Free Report) have been given an average rating of "Strong Sell" by the five ratings firms that are currently covering the company, MarketBeat.com reports. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation and two have assigned a hold recommendation to the company. The average 12-month price target among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $17.60.

A number of analysts recently weighed in on AFYA shares. Wall Street Zen downgraded Afya from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday. Morgan Stanley downgraded Afya from an "equal weight" rating to an "underweight" rating and dropped their target price for the stock from $19.00 to $17.00 in a research report on Tuesday, March 11th.

Afya Stock Performance

Shares of AFYA opened at $17.52 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $1.64 billion, a PE ratio of 14.13, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.29 and a beta of 0.60. The company has a current ratio of 1.60, a quick ratio of 1.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $18.40 and a 200-day moving average price of $17.12. Afya has a 12-month low of $14.52 and a 12-month high of $19.90.

Afya Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a -- dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 4th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, March 26th were paid a dividend of $0.232 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, March 26th. Afya's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 17.42%.

Institutional Trading of Afya

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in AFYA. Doma Perpetual Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Afya by 92.3% during the fourth quarter. Doma Perpetual Capital Management LLC now owns 567,109 shares of the company's stock valued at $9,006,000 after purchasing an additional 272,200 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP purchased a new stake in shares of Afya during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $829,000. Renaissance Technologies LLC boosted its stake in shares of Afya by 14.0% during the fourth quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 412,000 shares of the company's stock valued at $6,543,000 after purchasing an additional 50,700 shares during the period. Lazard Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Afya by 54.3% during the fourth quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 97,313 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,545,000 after acquiring an additional 34,246 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Afya by 167.3% during the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 45,093 shares of the company's stock valued at $809,000 after acquiring an additional 28,226 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 88.02% of the company's stock.

Afya Company Profile

Afya Limited, through its subsidiaries, operates as a medical education group in Brazil. The company operates through three segments: Undergrad, Continuing Education, and Digital Services. It offers educational products and services, including medical schools, medical residency preparatory courses, graduate courses, and other programs to lifelong medical learners enrolled across its distribution network, as well as to third-party medical schools.

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