New York State Teachers Retirement System Cuts Stock Position in Navient Co. (NASDAQ:NAVI)

New York State Teachers Retirement System cut its holdings in shares of Navient Co. (NASDAQ:NAVI) by 2.7% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 173,048 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after selling 4,812 shares during the period. New York State Teachers Retirement System’s holdings in Navient were worth $3,222,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the business. BlackRock Inc. increased its stake in Navient by 27.4% during the second quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 16,272,912 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $302,351,000 after purchasing an additional 3,502,330 shares during the period. Allianz Asset Management GmbH increased its stake in shares of Navient by 22.9% during the first quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH now owns 2,641,958 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $45,019,000 after buying an additional 491,644 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Navient by 6.8% during the first quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 2,020,696 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $31,887,000 after buying an additional 129,331 shares during the period. Morgan Stanley increased its stake in shares of Navient by 4.4% during the third quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 1,671,905 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $28,790,000 after buying an additional 70,790 shares during the period. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. increased its stake in shares of Navient by 7.4% during the third quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,138,526 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $19,605,000 after buying an additional 78,186 shares during the period. 97.14% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Navient Price Performance

NAVI stock opened at $16.15 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $1.82 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.07 and a beta of 1.38. Navient Co. has a twelve month low of $14.10 and a twelve month high of $19.69. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $16.55 and a 200-day simple moving average of $17.15. The company has a current ratio of 13.64, a quick ratio of 13.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 19.35.

Navient (NASDAQ:NAVI) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 31st. The credit services provider reported $0.70 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.77 by ($0.07). The firm had revenue of $193.00 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $210.76 million. Navient had a net margin of 4.72% and a return on equity of 14.17%. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Navient Co. will post 2.17 EPS for the current year.

Navient Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 1st were issued a $0.16 dividend. This represents a $0.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.96%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 29th. Navient’s payout ratio is currently 35.96%.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Mark L. Heleen sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 31st. The stock was 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 directly owns 385,577 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,631,924.40. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 26.93% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Barclays restated an “underweight” rating and set a $14.00 target price (down from $17.00) on shares of Navient in a research note on Wednesday, January 10th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft assumed coverage on shares of Navient in a research note on Wednesday, January 10th. They set a “hold” rating and a $19.00 target price on the stock. Stephens lowered shares of Navient from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and set a $16.00 target price on the stock. in a research note on Tuesday, January 2nd. StockNews.com downgraded Navient from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, February 1st. Finally, Citigroup upped their price target on Navient from $17.00 to $18.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, February 1st. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and seven have assigned a hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Navient presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $16.67.

Navient Company 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.