Afya (NASDAQ:AFYA) Downgraded by Morgan Stanley to “Underweight”

Afya (NASDAQ:AFYA) was downgraded by stock analysts at Morgan Stanley from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating in a report issued on Tuesday,Briefing.com Automated Import reports. They presently have a $17.00 price target on the stock, down from their previous price target of $19.00. Morgan Stanley’s price objective points to a potential upside of 0.18% from the stock’s current price.

Several other equities analysts have also recently weighed in on AFYA. The Goldman Sachs Group began coverage on shares of Afya in a research note on Tuesday, December 3rd. They set a “sell” rating and a $16.00 target price for the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on shares of Afya from $25.00 to $20.50 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 17th. Finally, Citigroup reiterated a “sell” rating and issued a $15.00 price target (down from $18.00) on shares of Afya in a report on Friday, January 31st. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and two have given a hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and an average price target of $17.60.

Afya Stock Down 0.9 %

Shares of AFYA stock opened at $16.97 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $1.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.69, a PEG ratio of 0.29 and a beta of 0.82. Afya has a one year low of $14.52 and a one year high of $22.24. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $16.35 and its 200-day moving average price is $16.47. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51, a current ratio of 1.60 and a quick ratio of 1.60.

Institutional Trading of Afya

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Doma Perpetual Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Afya by 92.3% in the 4th quarter. Doma Perpetual Capital Management LLC now owns 567,109 shares of the company’s stock worth $9,006,000 after buying an additional 272,200 shares during the last quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC boosted its position in Afya by 14.0% in the 4th quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 412,000 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,543,000 after buying an additional 50,700 shares during the period. Lazard Asset Management LLC boosted its position in Afya by 54.3% in the 4th quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 97,313 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,545,000 after buying an additional 34,246 shares during the period. D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. boosted its position in Afya by 32.9% in the 4th quarter. D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. now owns 82,817 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,315,000 after buying an additional 20,498 shares during the period. Finally, Two Sigma Advisers LP boosted its position in Afya by 27.2% in the 4th quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP now owns 78,600 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,248,000 after buying an additional 16,800 shares during the period. 88.02% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Afya Company Profile

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.