DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale Purchases 156,086 Shares of Navient Co. (NASDAQ:NAVI)

DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale boosted its holdings in shares of Navient Co. (NASDAQ:NAVI) by 207.8% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 231,186 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 156,086 shares during the period. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale owned approximately 0.20% of Navient worth $4,320,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Navient by 13.1% during the third quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 5,236 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $90,000 after acquiring an additional 607 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its holdings in Navient by 0.7% during the 2nd quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 91,373 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $1,278,000 after purchasing an additional 657 shares in the last quarter. Creative Planning raised its stake in shares of Navient by 5.6% in the 3rd quarter. Creative Planning now owns 13,118 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $226,000 after purchasing an additional 692 shares during the period. Advisor Group Holdings Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Navient by 11.6% in the fourth quarter. Advisor Group Holdings Inc. now owns 7,646 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $125,000 after purchasing an additional 797 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV boosted its position in shares of Navient by 7.2% during the first quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV now owns 13,154 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $210,000 after buying an additional 881 shares during the period. 97.14% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Mark L. Heleen sold 10,000 shares of Navient stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $17.20, for a total transaction of $172,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 385,577 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,631,924.40. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Insiders own 26.93% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Stephens lowered Navient from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and set a $16.00 target price on the stock. in a research report on Tuesday, January 2nd. StockNews.com lowered shares of Navient from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 1st. Citigroup increased their target price on shares of Navient from $17.00 to $18.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, February 1st. Barclays reissued an “underweight” rating and set a $14.00 price target (down from $17.00) on shares of Navient in a research report on Wednesday, January 10th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft initiated coverage on Navient in a report on Wednesday, January 10th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $19.00 price objective for the company. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and seven have issued a hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $16.67.

Navient Trading Down 0.1 %

Navient stock opened at $16.65 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 19.35, a quick ratio of 13.63 and a current ratio of 13.64. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $16.54 and a 200 day simple moving average of $17.16. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.88 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.35 and a beta of 1.38. Navient Co. has a 52 week low of $14.10 and a 52 week high of $19.69.

Navient (NASDAQ:NAVI) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, January 31st. The credit services provider reported $0.70 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.77 by ($0.07). Navient had a return on equity of 14.17% and a net margin of 4.72%. The business had revenue of $193.00 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $210.76 million. Analysts expect that Navient Co. will post 2.2 earnings per share for the current year.

Navient Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 1st were issued a $0.16 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 29th. This represents a $0.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.84%. Navient’s dividend payout ratio is currently 35.96%.

Navient Profile

Navient Corporation provides technology-enabled education finance and business processing solutions for education, health care, and government clients in the United States. It operates through three segments: Federal Education Loans, Consumer Lending, and Business Processing. The company owns Federal Family Education Loan Program (FFELP) loans that are insured or guaranteed by state or not-for-profit agencies; and performs servicing on its portfolios, as well as federal education loans held by other institutions.