Afya (NASDAQ:AFYA) Shares Down 4.8% - Here's What Happened

Key Points

• Afya shares fell 4.8% to $10.31 in mid-day trading, with volume about 14% above its average.
• Analyst sentiment improved overall, including upgrades from JPMorgan and Bradesco Corretora, but the consensus rating remains “Hold” with an average price target of $17.25.
• Afya’s latest quarterly results beat EPS expectations, reporting $0.43 versus the $0.40 consensus, while revenue of $187.8 million came in slightly below estimates.

Afya Limited (NASDAQ:AFYA - Get Free Report) was down 4.8% during mid-day trading on Wednesday. The company traded as low as $10.22 and last traded at $10.3060. Approximately 196,933 shares traded hands during trading, an increase of 14% from the average daily volume of 172,185 shares. The stock had previously closed at $10.83.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Bradesco Corretora raised shares of Afya to an "outperform" rating and set a $17.00 price objective for the company in a report on Thursday, September 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised shares of Afya from a "neutral" rating to an "overweight" rating and lowered their target price for the stock from $21.00 to $19.00 in a research note on Wednesday, October 7th. Zacks Research raised Afya from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Monday, October 5th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Afya from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Saturday, September 5th. Finally, Weiss Ratings lowered Afya from a "hold (c)" rating to a "hold (c-)" rating in a research report on Friday, July 31st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Afya presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $17.25.

Afya Stock Performance

The company has a current ratio of 2.20, a quick ratio of 2.20 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39. The firm's 50-day moving average is $13.83 and its two-hundred day moving average is $14.27. The stock has a market cap of $959.16 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 6.23, a P/E/G ratio of 1.83 and a beta of 0.34.

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Afya news, insider Santos Welder Ferreira sold 4,161 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on 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 owned 35,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $465,500. This trade represents a 10.63% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Afya

An institutional investor recently bought a new stake in Afya stock. Engineers Gate Manager LP acquired a new stake in shares of Afya Limited (NASDAQ:AFYA - Free Report) in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor acquired 21,882 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $325,000. Institutional investors own 88.02% of the company's stock.

Afya Company Profile

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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