Afya (NASDAQ:AFYA) Rating Lowered to "Buy" at Wall Street Zen

Key Points

• Wall Street Zen downgraded Afya from "strong-buy" to "buy"; the stock's consensus remains an overall Hold with an average price target of $17.20 (one Strong Buy, one Buy, six Holds).
• Afya beat EPS estimates ($0.41 vs. $0.36) but missed revenue expectations ($147.08M vs. $174.74M); the shares opened at $13.89 with a market cap of about $1.30B and a P/E of 9.51.
• Significant insider selling occurred recently—123,547 shares totaling ~$1.85M were sold in the past three months, including sales by the CEO and a VP—while institutional investors hold roughly 88% of the stock.

Afya (NASDAQ:AFYA - Get Free Report) was downgraded by analysts at Wall Street Zen from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a report released on Saturday.

AFYA has been the topic of several other research reports. Zacks Research upgraded Afya from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 7th. UBS Group restated a "neutral" rating and issued a $16.00 price target (down from $18.00) on shares of Afya in a research report on Friday, January 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on Afya from $22.00 to $21.50 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday. Bank of America cut Afya from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and dropped their target price for the stock from $22.00 to $17.00 in a research report on Tuesday, February 24th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded Afya to a "market perform" rating in a research report on Friday, January 16th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has given a Buy rating and six have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $17.20.

Afya Stock Performance

Shares of AFYA stock opened at $13.89 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.30 billion, a PE ratio of 9.51, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.97 and a beta of 0.36. Afya has a 52-week low of $13.00 and a 52-week high of $19.90. The stock's 50-day moving average price is $14.56 and its 200 day moving average price is $14.65. The company has a quick ratio of 2.20, a current ratio of 2.20 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41.

Afya (NASDAQ:AFYA - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, March 11th. The company reported $0.41 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.36 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $147.08 million for 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%. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Afya will post 1.67 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity at Afya

In other Afya news, VP De Sousa Anibal Jose Grifo sold 14,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $15.41, for a total transaction of $215,740.00. Following the transaction, the vice president owned 31,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $477,710. The trade was a 31.11% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Virgilio Deloy Capobian Gibbon sold 20,900 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the chief executive officer owned 109,218 shares in the company, valued at $1,631,716.92. The trade was a 16.06% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold a total of 123,547 shares of company stock worth $1,854,920 in the last three months. 0.80% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Afya

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Van ECK Associates Corp boosted its stake in shares of Afya by 15.7% during the 3rd quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 10,170 shares of the company's stock worth $159,000 after acquiring an additional 1,377 shares in the last quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. acquired a new position in Afya during the fourth quarter worth $43,000. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership raised its holdings in Afya by 5.6% during the second quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 68,169 shares of the company's stock worth $1,217,000 after purchasing an additional 3,626 shares during the last quarter. Militia Capital Partners LP acquired a new position in Afya during the second quarter worth $71,000. Finally, Fairtree Asset Management Pty Ltd raised its holdings in Afya by 22.3% during the fourth quarter. Fairtree Asset Management Pty Ltd now owns 30,697 shares of the company's stock worth $473,000 after purchasing an additional 5,599 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 88.02% of the company's stock.

About Afya

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.

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