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

Afya Limited (NASDAQ:AFYA)’s share price gapped down prior to trading on Monday. The stock had previously closed at $13.00, but opened at $12.21. Afya shares last traded at $12.27, with a volume of 182,280 shares traded.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AFYA has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Bradesco Corretora raised Afya to an “outperform” rating and set a $17.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Thursday. Zacks Research lowered Afya from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Friday, August 21st. Wall Street Zen raised Afya from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, September 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on Afya from $21.50 to $21.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, June 22nd. Finally, Weiss Ratings downgraded Afya from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a research report on Friday, July 31st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $17.75.

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 company has a 50 day simple moving average of $14.00 and a 200-day simple moving average of $14.34. The firm has a market cap of $1.15 billion, a PE ratio of 7.48 and a beta of 0.35.

Afya (NASDAQ:AFYA) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, August 14th. The company reported $0.43 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.40 by $0.03. The firm 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%. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Afya Limited will post 1.86 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Afya news, VP Lélio de Souza, Jr. sold 36,204 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $15.00, for a total value of $543,060.00. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link.

Institutional Trading of Afya

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Engineers Gate Manager LP purchased a new position in shares of Afya in the second quarter worth about $325,000. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio bought a new stake in shares of Afya in the 2nd quarter valued at about $67,000. Finally, Banco BTG Pactual S.A. purchased a new stake in Afya during the 4th quarter valued at about $462,000. 88.02% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Afya

Afya Limited is a Brazilian medical education and technology company that operates an integrated platform for physicians and medical students. The company provides education and professional development throughout the medical career cycle, from undergraduate training and residency preparation to continuing medical education and specialization programs.

Afya’s offerings include medical schools, preparatory courses, postgraduate and continuing education programs, digital learning tools, and clinical practice technologies.