Afya Limited (NASDAQ:AFYA) Sees Significant Decrease in Short Interest

Afya Limited (NASDAQ:AFYA) was the target of a large decrease in short interest during the month of October. As of October 15th, there was short interest totaling 436,997 shares, a decrease of 78.5% from the September 30th total of 2,033,841 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 505,835 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 0.9 days. Currently, 0.5% of the company’s shares are short sold.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AFYA has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised shares of Afya from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and decreased their target price for the company from $21.00 to $19.00 in a research report on Wednesday, October 7th. Weiss Ratings cut shares of Afya from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a research report on Friday, July 31st. Bradesco Corretora raised shares of Afya to an “outperform” rating and set a $17.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Thursday, September 24th. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Afya from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, October 5th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Afya from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, September 5th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $17.25.

Afya Trading Down 5.4%

Afya stock traded down $0.59 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $10.24. 1,119,469 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 176,867. The firm has a market cap of $959.72 million, a PE ratio of 6.24, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.83 and a beta of 0.34. 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 company has a 50-day simple moving average of $13.83 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $14.27. Afya has a 12-month low of $10.02 and a 12-month high of $16.16.

Afya (NASDAQ:AFYA) last issued its quarterly earnings results 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. The business had revenue of $187.80 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $189.62 million. Afya had a net margin of 20.55% and a return on equity of 17.58%. Research analysts expect that Afya will post 1.72 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Afya

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

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Afya

An institutional investor recently bought a new stake in Afya stock. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio purchased a new position in Afya Limited (NASDAQ:AFYA) in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund purchased 4,500 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $67,000. Hedge funds and other 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.