Cerity Partners LLC Sells 6,415 Shares of Navient Co. (NASDAQ:NAVI)

Cerity Partners LLC cut its position in Navient Co. (NASDAQ:NAVI) by 16.7% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 31,908 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after selling 6,415 shares during the period. Cerity Partners LLC’s holdings in Navient were worth $424,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. American Century Companies Inc. increased its holdings in Navient by 6.4% during the 4th quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,822,583 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $24,222,000 after purchasing an additional 109,229 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its position in shares of Navient by 47.4% during the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 1,315,841 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $17,488,000 after buying an additional 423,013 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its position in Navient by 0.9% in the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 1,149,599 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $15,278,000 after buying an additional 10,788 shares during the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership lifted its stake in Navient by 51.3% in the 4th quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 555,634 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $7,384,000 after acquiring an additional 188,399 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Empowered Funds LLC boosted its position in Navient by 5.1% during the 4th quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 467,232 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $6,210,000 after acquiring an additional 22,765 shares during the last quarter. 97.14% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Navient Stock Up 4.1 %

NAVI stock opened at $11.45 on Wednesday. Navient Co. has a 1-year low of $10.53 and a 1-year high of $16.97. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $12.82 and its 200 day simple moving average is $13.92. The company has a current ratio of 9.48, a quick ratio of 9.49 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 16.35. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.17 billion, a PE ratio of 9.87 and a beta of 1.24.

Navient (NASDAQ:NAVI) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The credit services provider reported $0.25 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.26 by ($0.01). Navient had a net margin of 2.96% and a return on equity of 6.69%. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Navient Co. will post 1.04 EPS for the current year.

Navient Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 21st. Investors of record on Friday, March 7th were paid a $0.16 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 7th. This represents a $0.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.59%. Navient’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 55.17%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on NAVI. Bank of America decreased their price objective on Navient from $17.00 to $16.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, December 24th. TD Cowen upgraded Navient from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 2nd. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their price objective on Navient from $14.00 to $12.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on shares of Navient from $13.50 to $11.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered shares of Navient from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $12.83.

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.