Afya (NASDAQ:AFYA) Shares Gap Down - Time to Sell?

Key Points

• Afya shares plunged, opening at $11.71 versus the prior close of $15.09 and later trading around $12.21. The decline pushed the stock below its 50-day and 200-day moving averages.
• Analyst sentiment remains mixed but centers on “Hold”, with two Buy ratings and five Hold ratings; the consensus price target is $17.25. Recent actions included upgrades from JPMorgan, Bradesco Corretora, Wall Street Zen and Zacks.
• Afya’s latest quarter slightly beat EPS expectations, reporting $0.43 versus $0.40, though revenue of $187.8 million came in below estimates. An insider also sold 4,161 shares, while institutional investors own 88.02% of the stock.

Afya Limited (NASDAQ:AFYA - Get Free Report) shares gapped down before the market opened on Monday. The stock had previously closed at $15.09, but opened at $11.71. Afya shares last traded at $12.2050, with a volume of 133,298 shares traded.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

Afya Stock Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39, a current ratio of 2.20 and a quick ratio of 2.20. The stock has a market cap of $1.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 6.62, a PEG ratio of 1.83 and a beta of 0.34. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $13.97 and a 200 day moving average of $14.23.

Afya (NASDAQ:AFYA - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Friday, August 14th. The company reported $0.43 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $189.62 million. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Afya Limited will post 1.72 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Santos Welder Ferreira sold 4,161 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $13.30, for a total value of $55,341.30. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 35,000 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $465,500. This represents a 10.63% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Afya

An institutional investor recently bought a new stake in Afya stock. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio bought a new stake in Afya Limited (NASDAQ:AFYA - Free Report) during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund bought 4,500 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $67,000. 88.02% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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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