Van ECK Associates Corp Sells 1,410 Shares of Afya Limited (NASDAQ:AFYA)

Van ECK Associates Corp decreased its stake in Afya Limited (NASDAQ:AFYA) by 17.1% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 6,821 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,410 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp’s holdings in Afya were worth $115,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Marshall Wace LLP lifted its stake in Afya by 41.8% in the 2nd quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 336,985 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,948,000 after purchasing an additional 99,416 shares during the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC lifted its stake in Afya by 45.0% in the 2nd quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 291,164 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,139,000 after purchasing an additional 90,383 shares during the last quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC lifted its stake in Afya by 19.7% in the 2nd quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 266,500 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,704,000 after purchasing an additional 43,800 shares during the last quarter. Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC lifted its stake in Afya by 136.9% in the 2nd quarter. Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC now owns 35,254 shares of the company’s stock valued at $622,000 after purchasing an additional 20,370 shares during the last quarter. Finally, DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale bought a new position in shares of Afya during the third quarter valued at $417,000. Institutional investors own 88.02% of the company’s stock.

Afya Price Performance

AFYA stock opened at $17.30 on Thursday. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $16.76 and a 200-day moving average price of $17.29. The company has a market capitalization of $1.62 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.34, a PEG ratio of 0.36 and a beta of 0.91. Afya Limited has a 52-week low of $14.64 and a 52-week high of $22.48. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40, a quick ratio of 1.47 and a current ratio of 1.47.

Afya (NASDAQ:AFYA) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 15th. The company reported $0.41 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.35 by $0.06. Afya had a net margin of 18.12% and a return on equity of 18.82%. The firm had revenue of $155.40 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $151.83 million. As a group, equities analysts expect that Afya Limited will post 1.52 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Separately, UBS Group assumed coverage on shares of Afya in a research note on Friday, August 30th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $19.50 price target for the company.

Afya 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.