Lelio De Souza Junior Sells 26,753 Shares of Afya (NASDAQ:AFYA) Stock

Key Points

• Lelio De Souza Junior, Afya's VP, sold 26,753 shares on April 7 at an average price of $14.95 for about $399,957, cutting his stake by 62.17% to 16,279 shares.
• Afya reported quarterly EPS of $0.41 (beat estimates) but revenue of $147.08M missed expectations, and the company paid an annual dividend of $0.656 per share (ex-dividend March 25) with a 45.21% payout ratio.
• Analysts have a consensus "Hold" rating with a $17.30 price target; Afya's market cap is roughly $1.43B, with a PE of 10.43 and PEG of 0.67.

Afya Limited (NASDAQ:AFYA - Get Free Report) VP Lelio De Souza Junior sold 26,753 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $14.95, for a total value of $399,957.35. Following the transaction, the vice president directly owned 16,279 shares in the company, valued at $243,371.05. This trade represents a 62.17% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link.

Afya Price Performance

NASDAQ:AFYA traded up $0.29 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $15.23. 127,845 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 118,159. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $14.48 and a 200 day moving average price of $14.69. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.43 billion, a PE ratio of 10.43, a PEG ratio of 0.67 and a beta of 0.48. Afya Limited has a 1-year low of $13.00 and a 1-year high of $19.90. The company has a current ratio of 2.20, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21.

Afya (NASDAQ:AFYA - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, March 11th. The company reported $0.41 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.36 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $147.08 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $174.74 million. Afya had a return on equity of 18.77% and a net margin of 20.31%. Research analysts expect that Afya Limited will post 1.52 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Afya Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced an annual dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 6th. Investors of record on Wednesday, March 25th were issued a dividend of $0.656 per share. This represents a yield of 433.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 25th. Afya's payout ratio is presently 45.21%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on AFYA shares. Zacks Research raised Afya from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Tuesday. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a "hold (c)" rating on shares of Afya in a report on Wednesday, January 21st. Bank of America lowered Afya from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and cut their target price for the stock from $22.00 to $17.00 in a research report on Tuesday, February 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and set a $22.00 target price (down from $24.50) on shares of Afya in a report on Wednesday, January 7th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein raised Afya to a "market perform" rating in a research note on Friday, January 16th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has issued a Buy rating and six have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $17.30.

Institutional Trading of Afya

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Van ECK Associates Corp raised its holdings in 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 buying an additional 1,377 shares during the period. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. acquired a new stake in Afya during the 4th quarter worth about $43,000. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership raised its holdings in Afya by 5.6% during the 2nd quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 68,169 shares of the company's stock worth $1,217,000 after buying an additional 3,626 shares during the period. Militia Capital Partners LP acquired a new stake in Afya during the 2nd quarter worth about $71,000. Finally, Fairtree Asset Management Pty Ltd raised its holdings in Afya by 22.3% during the 4th quarter. Fairtree Asset Management Pty Ltd now owns 30,697 shares of the company's stock worth $473,000 after buying an additional 5,599 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 88.02% of the company's stock.

Afya Company Profile

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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