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

Key Points

• Zacks Research downgraded Afya (NASDAQ:AFYA) from a "strong-buy" to a "hold," and MarketBeat shows a consensus Hold rating with a consensus target price of $17.20.
• Several major brokers—including Bank of America, UBS and JPMorgan—have recently cut price targets or moved ratings toward neutral, leaving one Buy and seven Hold analyst ratings on the stock.
• Afya modestly beat the latest quarter's estimates (EPS $0.55 vs. $0.54; revenue $194.96M vs. $192.95M), trades at a PE of ~9.5 with strong margins, but insiders sold roughly 123,547 shares (~$1.85M) in the past 90 days.

Afya (NASDAQ:AFYA - Get Free Report) was downgraded by Zacks Research from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report issued on Wednesday,Zacks.com reports.

AFYA has been the subject of several other research reports. Wall Street Zen cut Afya from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Saturday, May 2nd. Bank of America cut Afya from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and decreased their price objective for the company from $22.00 to $17.00 in a research note on Tuesday, February 24th. UBS Group reiterated a "neutral" rating and issued a $16.00 price objective (down from $18.00) on shares of Afya in a research note on Friday, January 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on Afya from $22.00 to $21.50 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a "hold (c)" rating on shares of Afya in a research note on Monday, April 20th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Afya presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $17.20.

Afya Stock Performance

Shares of AFYA opened at $13.91 on Wednesday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $14.56 and a 200-day simple moving average of $14.64. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41, a quick ratio of 2.20 and a current ratio of 2.20. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.30 billion, a PE ratio of 9.53, a PEG ratio of 0.95 and a beta of 0.36. Afya has a 1 year low of $13.00 and a 1 year high of $19.90.

Afya (NASDAQ:AFYA - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 14th. The company reported $0.55 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.54 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $194.96 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $192.95 million. Afya had a return on equity of 18.77% and a net margin of 20.31%. On average, analysts predict that Afya will post 1.67 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In related news, 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 transaction of $312,246.00. Following the completion of the sale, 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 ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, VP Lelio De Souza Junior sold 16,279 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $14.53, for a total value of $236,533.87. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold 123,547 shares of company stock valued at $1,854,920 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.80% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. acquired a new position in Afya during the fourth quarter worth approximately $43,000. Militia Capital Partners LP acquired a new position in Afya during the second quarter worth approximately $71,000. Quantbot Technologies LP acquired a new position in Afya during the second quarter worth approximately $117,000. Van ECK Associates Corp increased its position in Afya by 15.7% during the third quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 10,170 shares of the company's stock worth $159,000 after buying an additional 1,377 shares during the period. Finally, State of Wyoming acquired a new position in Afya during the second quarter worth approximately $164,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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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