Afya Limited (NASDAQ:AFYA) Short Interest Down 33.2% in May

Afya Limited (NASDAQ:AFYA - Get Free Report) was the recipient of a large drop in short interest in May. As of May 15th, there was short interest totalling 981,800 shares, a drop of 33.2% from the April 30th total of 1,470,000 shares. Approximately 6.6% of the company's stock are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 118,700 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 8.3 days.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Afya

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio raised its stake in Afya by 40.0% in the 4th quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio now owns 2,800 shares of the company's stock worth $44,000 after acquiring an additional 800 shares during the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. raised its stake in Afya by 296.9% in the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 2,072 shares of the company's stock worth $35,000 after acquiring an additional 1,550 shares during the last quarter. Jane Street Group LLC raised its stake in Afya by 3.7% in the 4th quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 56,341 shares of the company's stock worth $895,000 after acquiring an additional 2,032 shares during the last quarter. Dodge & Cox raised its stake in Afya by 7.1% in the 4th quarter. Dodge & Cox now owns 31,262 shares of the company's stock worth $496,000 after acquiring an additional 2,079 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Van ECK Associates Corp raised its stake in Afya by 41.9% in the 4th quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 9,677 shares of the company's stock worth $154,000 after acquiring an additional 2,856 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 88.02% of the company's stock.

Afya Stock Down 0.5%

Shares of Afya stock traded down $0.09 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $17.94. The company's stock had a trading volume of 97,568 shares, compared to its average volume of 125,520. The company has a quick ratio of 1.60, a current ratio of 1.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51. The company has a market cap of $1.68 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.47, a P/E/G ratio of 0.29 and a beta of 0.60. Afya has a 1-year low of $14.52 and a 1-year high of $19.90. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $18.41 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $17.10.

Afya Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a -- dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 4th. Investors of record on Wednesday, March 26th were paid a $0.232 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 26th. Afya's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 17.42%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Separately, Morgan Stanley cut Afya from an "equal weight" rating to an "underweight" rating and lowered their price objective for the stock from $19.00 to $17.00 in a research report on Tuesday, March 11th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and two have assigned a hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Reduce" and a consensus target price of $17.60.

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.