New York State Common Retirement Fund Boosts Stock Holdings in Navient Co. (NASDAQ:NAVI)

New York State Common Retirement Fund increased its holdings in Navient Co. (NASDAQ:NAVI) by 90.3% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 113,415 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 53,806 shares during the period. New York State Common Retirement Fund’s holdings in Navient were worth $2,112,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the business. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Navient by 13.1% in the third quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 5,236 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $90,000 after buying an additional 607 shares in the last quarter. CI Investments Inc. lifted its stake in Navient by 5,209.1% in the 3rd quarter. CI Investments Inc. now owns 9,291 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $160,000 after purchasing an additional 9,116 shares in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in Navient by 1,762.0% in the 4th quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 9,310 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $173,000 after purchasing an additional 8,810 shares during the period. Dimension Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Navient during the 3rd quarter valued at $195,000. Finally, Pathstone Family Office LLC increased its holdings in shares of Navient by 9.8% in the third quarter. Pathstone Family Office LLC now owns 11,542 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $199,000 after purchasing an additional 1,029 shares during the period. 97.14% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Navient

In other Navient news, EVP Mark L. Heleen sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $16.00, for a total value of $160,000.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 393,611 shares in the company, valued at $6,297,776. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 27.99% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently commented on NAVI. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on Navient from $17.00 to $16.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 25th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft assumed coverage on shares of Navient in a research report on Wednesday, January 10th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $19.00 price objective on the stock. TD Cowen dropped their target price on shares of Navient from $14.00 to $13.00 and set a “sell” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, April 26th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their price target on shares of Navient from $19.00 to $17.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 25th. Finally, Citigroup lifted their price objective on shares of Navient from $17.00 to $18.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, February 1st. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eight have assigned a hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $16.10.

Navient Stock Performance

Navient stock opened at $15.47 on Thursday. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $16.45 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $16.98. Navient Co. has a twelve month low of $14.10 and a twelve month high of $19.69. The company has a market capitalization of $1.73 billion, a PE ratio of 9.92 and a beta of 1.39. The company has a quick ratio of 12.52, a current ratio of 12.52 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 18.38.

Navient (NASDAQ:NAVI) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, April 24th. The credit services provider reported $0.63 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.58 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $163.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $188.04 million. Navient had a return on equity of 12.09% and a net margin of 3.93%. Research analysts expect that Navient Co. will post 1.66 EPS for the current year.

Navient Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 15th. Investors of record on Friday, March 1st were paid a $0.16 dividend. This represents a $0.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.14%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 29th. Navient’s payout ratio is 41.03%.

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.