Afya (NASDAQ:AFYA) Stock Gets Downgrade from Wall Street Zen

Key Points

• Wall Street Zen downgraded Afya from “buy” to “hold,” while Weiss Ratings cut its rating to “sell.” Other analysts remain more positive, but the overall consensus is “hold” with a $17.00 target price.
• Afya shares opened at $10.45, near the lower end of their 12-month range of $9.66 to $16.16, with a market capitalization of approximately $979 million.
• The company reported quarterly earnings of $0.43 per share, beating estimates of $0.40, though revenue of $187.8 million fell short of the $189.62 million consensus forecast.

Afya (NASDAQ:AFYA - Get Free Report) was downgraded by investment analysts at Wall Street Zen from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note issued to investors on Saturday, Wall Street Zen reports.

Other equities analysts have also issued reports about the company. Weiss Ratings lowered Afya from a "hold (c-)" rating to a "sell (d+)" rating in a research note on Thursday. Bradesco Corretora raised shares of Afya to an "outperform" rating and set a $17.00 target price for the company in a research report on Thursday, September 24th. Bank of America upgraded shares of Afya from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $16.00 price target for the company in a report on Thursday. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Afya from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Monday, October 5th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded shares of Afya from a "neutral" rating to an "overweight" rating and dropped their price target for the stock from $21.00 to $19.00 in a research report on Wednesday, October 7th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $17.00.

Afya Stock Performance

Shares of Afya stock opened at $10.45 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 2.20, a current ratio of 2.20 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39. Afya has a twelve month low of $9.66 and a twelve month high of $16.16. The stock has a market cap of $979.41 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 6.37, a P/E/G ratio of 1.23 and a beta of 0.34. The company's fifty day moving average is $13.63 and its 200 day moving average is $14.20.

Afya (NASDAQ:AFYA - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, August 14th. The company reported $0.43 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.40 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $187.80 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $189.62 million. Afya had a return on equity of 17.58% and a net margin of 20.55%. Sell-side analysts forecast that Afya will post 1.72 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Afya

In other news, insider Santos Welder Ferreira sold 4,161 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $13.30, for a total value of $55,341.30. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 35,000 shares of the company's stock, valued at $465,500. The trade was a 10.63% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Company insiders own 0.80% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Afya

A hedge fund recently bought a new stake in Afya stock. Engineers Gate Manager LP purchased a new stake in Afya Limited (NASDAQ:AFYA - Free Report) during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 21,882 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $325,000. Institutional investors own 88.02% of the company's stock.

About Afya

Afya Limited is a medical education and digital health company focused on Brazil. Through its educational platform, the company provides undergraduate medical education, medical residency preparation, specialization and continuing medical education programs, and other learning resources for students and physicians.

Afya also offers digital products and services intended to support healthcare professionals throughout their careers. These include clinical content, study tools, telemedicine and practice-management solutions, and subscription-based applications designed to assist physicians with education, clinical decision-making, and patient care.

The company has expanded through the development and acquisition of medical schools, education businesses, and health technology platforms serving different stages of the medical professional lifecycle.

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