Afya (NASDAQ:AFYA) Sees Unusually-High Trading Volume – Time to Buy?

Afya Limited (NASDAQ:AFYA) shares saw unusually-high trading volume on Monday. 346,375 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, an increase of 90% from the average daily volume of 182,672 shares. The stock last traded at $10.91 and had previously closed at $10.45.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently commented on AFYA. Zacks Research upgraded Afya from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, October 5th. Bradesco Corretora upgraded shares of Afya to an “outperform” rating and set a $17.00 price target for the company in a report on Thursday, September 24th. Bank of America raised Afya from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $16.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Thursday. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Afya from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded Afya from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and cut their price target for the stock from $21.00 to $19.00 in a report on Wednesday, October 7th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Afya currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $17.00.

Afya Stock Up 1.6%

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 stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $13.63 and its 200-day simple moving average is $14.20. The firm has a market capitalization of $994.93 million, a P/E ratio of 6.48, a P/E/G ratio of 1.64 and a beta of 0.43.

Afya (NASDAQ:AFYA) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, August 14th. The company reported $0.43 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.40 by $0.03. Afya had a net margin of 20.55% and a return on equity of 17.58%. The firm had revenue of $187.80 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $189.62 million. As a group, research analysts predict that Afya Limited will post 1.72 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Afya

In other news, insider Santos Welder Ferreira sold 4,161 shares of the firm’s 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 sale, the insider directly owned 35,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $465,500. This trade represents a 10.63% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Afya

A hedge fund recently bought a new position in Afya stock. Engineers Gate Manager LP bought a new stake in Afya Limited (NASDAQ:AFYA) during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund bought 21,882 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $325,000. Institutional investors own 88.02% of the company’s stock.

Afya Company Profile

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.