Raymond James & Associates Grows Stock Position in Afya Limited (NASDAQ:AFYA)

Raymond James & Associates boosted its stake in Afya Limited (NASDAQ:AFYA) by 134.4% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 27,695 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 15,878 shares during the quarter. Raymond James & Associates’ holdings in Afya were worth $607,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Afya by 32.6% during the third quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 4,145 shares of the company’s stock valued at $65,000 after acquiring an additional 1,020 shares during the last quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP purchased a new position in Afya in the 3rd quarter valued at about $118,000. HBK Sorce Advisory LLC purchased a new position in Afya in the 3rd quarter valued at about $159,000. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Afya during the 3rd quarter worth about $183,000. Finally, GW Henssler & Associates Ltd. purchased a new stake in shares of Afya during the third quarter worth about $223,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 88.02% of the company’s stock.

Afya Price Performance

Afya stock opened at $16.62 on Thursday. Afya Limited has a 1 year low of $10.72 and a 1 year high of $22.48. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a current ratio of 1.14. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $19.16 and a 200 day moving average price of $19.36. The company has a market cap of $1.56 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.33, a PEG ratio of 0.52 and a beta of 0.97.

Afya (NASDAQ:AFYA) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 14th. The company reported $0.34 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.32 by $0.02. Afya had a net margin of 13.54% and a return on equity of 15.88%. The company had revenue of $147.35 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $141.83 million. Sell-side analysts predict that Afya Limited will post 1.54 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have weighed in on AFYA. Morgan Stanley downgraded Afya from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $20.50 to $23.00 in a report on Monday, January 22nd. Citigroup began coverage on Afya in a research note on Monday, January 29th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $23.00 target price for the company.

About Afya

Afya Limited, through its subsidiaries, operates as a medical education group in Brazil. The company operates through three segments: Undergrad, Continuing Education, and Digital Services. It offers educational products and services, including medical schools, medical residency preparatory courses, graduate courses, and other programs to lifelong medical learners enrolled across its distribution network, as well as to third-party medical schools.