Afya (NASDAQ:AFYA) Sees Unusually-High Trading Volume – Should You Buy?

Shares of Afya Limited (NASDAQ:AFYA) saw unusually-high trading volume on Tuesday. Approximately 525,763 shares were traded during mid-day trading, an increase of 208% from the average daily volume of 170,777 shares. The stock last traded at $10.57 and had previously closed at $10.64.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently commented on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised Afya from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and dropped their price target for the company from $21.00 to $19.00 in a research note on Wednesday, October 7th. Bradesco Corretora upgraded shares of Afya to an “outperform” rating and set a $17.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Thursday, September 24th. Zacks Research raised shares of Afya from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, October 5th. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of Afya from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a report on Friday, July 31st. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Afya from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, September 5th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Afya presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $17.25.

Afya Stock Performance

The company has a quick ratio of 2.20, a current ratio of 2.20 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39. The stock has a market cap of $994.74 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 6.45, a P/E/G ratio of 1.83 and a beta of 0.34. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $13.96 and a 200 day simple moving average of $14.31.

Afya (NASDAQ:AFYA) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, August 14th. The company reported $0.43 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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%. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Afya Limited will post 1.72 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Afya

In related news, insider Santos Welder Ferreira sold 4,161 shares of the business’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 sale, the insider owned 35,000 shares in the company, valued at $465,500. The trade was a 10.63% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Afya

An institutional investor recently bought a new stake in Afya stock. Engineers Gate Manager LP bought a new position in shares of Afya Limited (NASDAQ:AFYA) during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm bought 21,882 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $325,000. 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.