Afya Limited (NASDAQ:AFYA) Stock Short Interest Report for October

Afya Limited (NASDAQ:AFYA) saw a large growth in short interest in October. As of October 30th, there was short interest totaling 1,017,739 shares, a growth of 132.9% from the October 15th total of 436,997 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 587,641 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 1.7 days. Approximately 1.1% of the company’s stock are sold short.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have commented on the company. Citigroup upgraded Afya from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lowered their price target for the company from $16.00 to $12.00 in a report on Tuesday, November 3rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on Afya from $19.00 to $17.50 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, November 3rd. Zacks Research lowered shares of Afya from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 3rd. Bank of America raised Afya from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $16.00 price target for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 29th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded Afya from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Sunday, November 8th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have issued a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $15.18.

Insider Activity at Afya

In related news, insider Santos Welder Ferreira sold 4,161 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the insider owned 35,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $465,500. This represents a 10.63% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.80% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Afya

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Marshall Wace LLP bought a new stake in Afya during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $399,000. R Squared Ltd raised its stake in shares of Afya by 37.0% in the third quarter. R Squared Ltd now owns 60,114 shares of the company’s stock worth $724,000 after purchasing an additional 16,250 shares during the last quarter. Engineers Gate Manager LP bought a new position in shares of Afya in the second quarter valued at approximately $325,000. Finally, Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio bought a new position in shares of Afya in the second quarter valued at approximately $67,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 88.02% of the company’s stock.

Afya Price Performance

Shares of Afya stock opened at $10.32 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $967.19 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 5.80, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.66 and a beta of 0.43. 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 has a twelve month low of $9.66 and a twelve month high of $16.16. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $12.82 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $14.00.

Afya (NASDAQ:AFYA) last announced its 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 return on equity of 17.43% and a net margin of 20.48%. Analysts forecast that Afya will post 1.68 EPS for the current year.

Afya Company Profile

Afya Limited is a Brazilian medical education and digital health company. Its education business offers undergraduate medical degree programs, medical residency preparation, postgraduate courses and continuing education for health professionals. The company also provides digital tools and services for medical students and practicing physicians, including clinical reference, practice-management and learning resources. These offerings support professionals at different stages of their medical careers.