FIL Ltd Cuts Stock Holdings in Afya Limited (NASDAQ:AFYA)

FIL Ltd lessened its stake in Afya Limited (NASDAQ:AFYA - Free Report) by 49.3% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 84,514 shares of the company's stock after selling 82,104 shares during the period. FIL Ltd owned about 0.09% of Afya worth $1,342,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Lifestyle Asset Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Afya by 5.5% in the fourth quarter. Lifestyle Asset Management Inc. now owns 17,682 shares of the company's stock valued at $281,000 after acquiring an additional 929 shares during the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. raised its stake in Afya by 296.9% during the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 2,072 shares of the company's stock worth $35,000 after buying an additional 1,550 shares during the last quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio acquired a new position in Afya in the third quarter valued at $34,000. Van ECK Associates Corp boosted its position in Afya by 41.9% during the fourth quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 9,677 shares of the company's stock valued at $154,000 after acquiring an additional 2,856 shares during the last quarter. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its holdings in Afya by 2,115.9% during the 4th quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 6,670 shares of the company's stock worth $106,000 after acquiring an additional 6,369 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 88.02% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently commented on AFYA shares. Morgan Stanley lowered Afya from an "equal weight" rating to an "underweight" rating and cut their target price for the company from $19.00 to $17.00 in a research report on Tuesday, March 11th. Citigroup reaffirmed a "sell" rating and set a $15.00 price objective (down previously from $18.00) on shares of Afya in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on shares of Afya from $25.00 to $20.50 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and two have issued a hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Reduce" and an average target price of $17.60.

Afya Stock Up 1.2 %

NASDAQ AFYA traded up $0.22 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $18.20. The company's stock had a trading volume of 67,158 shares, compared to its average volume of 121,105. 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 company's 50 day simple moving average is $17.41 and its 200 day simple moving average is $16.66. Afya Limited has a twelve month low of $14.52 and a twelve month high of $20.06. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.68, a PEG ratio of 0.29 and a beta of 0.66.

Afya Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a -- dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 4th. Investors of record on Wednesday, March 26th were given a $0.232 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, March 26th. Afya's payout ratio is 17.69%.

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.