Afya (NASDAQ:AFYA) Stock Rating Raised to “Buy” at Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Afya (NASDAQ:AFYA) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research note released on Sunday morning,Wall Street Zen reports.

AFYA has been the topic of a number of other reports. Morgan Stanley upgraded Afya from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and set a $12.60 price objective on the stock in a report on Thursday. Weiss Ratings downgraded Afya from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 29th. Zacks Research downgraded Afya from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 3rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on Afya from $19.00 to $17.50 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, November 3rd. Finally, Bank of America upgraded Afya from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $16.00 price target for the company in a report on Thursday, October 29th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have given a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Afya currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $15.18.

Afya Stock Performance

Shares of AFYA opened at $10.50 on Friday. Afya has a 12-month low of $9.66 and a 12-month high of $16.16. The firm has a market capitalization of $984.09 million, a P/E ratio of 6.40, a P/E/G ratio of 1.68 and a beta of 0.43. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $13.24 and a 200 day moving average price of $14.10. The company has a current ratio of 2.20, a quick ratio of 2.20 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39.

Afya (NASDAQ:AFYA) last issued its earnings results on Friday, August 14th. The company reported $0.43 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.40 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $187.80 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $189.62 million. Afya had a net margin of 20.55% and a return on equity of 17.58%. Sell-side analysts forecast that Afya will post 1.68 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Afya

In other Afya news, insider Santos Welder Ferreira sold 4,161 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the insider owned 35,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $465,500. The trade was a 10.63% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 0.80% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Afya

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of AFYA. R Squared Ltd grew its position in Afya by 37.0% in the 3rd quarter. R Squared Ltd now owns 60,114 shares of the company’s stock valued at $724,000 after acquiring an additional 16,250 shares in the last quarter. Engineers Gate Manager LP acquired a new stake in shares of Afya during the second quarter worth about $325,000. Finally, Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio acquired a new stake in shares of Afya during the second quarter worth about $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.