Afya (NASDAQ:AFYA) Shares Gap Up – Here’s What Happened

Afya Limited (NASDAQ:AFYA)’s stock price gapped up prior to trading on Monday. The stock had previously closed at $12.22, but opened at $13.36. Afya shares last traded at $12.7790, with a volume of 74,980 shares traded.

Analyst Ratings Changes

AFYA has been the subject of several recent research reports. Bank of America reissued a “neutral” rating on shares of Afya in a research note on Thursday, June 11th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Afya from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, September 5th. Weiss Ratings cut shares of Afya from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a research report on Friday, July 31st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on shares of Afya from $21.50 to $21.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, June 22nd. Finally, Zacks Research downgraded shares of Afya from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Friday, August 21st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $17.75.

Afya Stock Performance

The stock has a 50-day moving average of $13.78 and a 200 day moving average of $14.26. The stock has a market cap of $1.30 billion, a PE ratio of 8.48, a P/E/G ratio of 1.49 and a beta of 0.34. The company has a quick ratio of 2.20, a current 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 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.40 by $0.03. Afya had a return on equity of 17.58% and a net margin of 20.55%.The business had revenue of $187.80 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $189.62 million. Equities analysts predict that Afya Limited will post 1.86 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Afya

In other Afya news, insider Santos Welder Ferreira sold 4,161 shares of Afya stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $13.30, for a total transaction of $55,341.30. Following the transaction, the insider directly 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 accessible through the SEC website.

Institutional Trading of Afya

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in AFYA. Engineers Gate Manager LP purchased a new stake in shares of Afya during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $325,000. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio purchased a new position in Afya in the second quarter worth approximately $67,000. Finally, Banco BTG Pactual S.A. purchased a new position in Afya in the fourth quarter worth approximately $462,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 88.02% of the company’s stock.

About Afya

Afya Limited (NASDAQ: AFYA) is a Brazil-based medical education and health technology company. The company provides education and professional development for physicians and other healthcare professionals, with activities spanning undergraduate medical programs, medical residency preparation, specialization courses, continuing medical education and digital learning services.

Afya also develops technology-enabled products designed to support healthcare professionals throughout their careers.