Navient Co. (NASDAQ:NAVI) Shares Sold by LPL Financial LLC

LPL Financial LLC trimmed its holdings in Navient Co. (NASDAQ:NAVI) by 3.8% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 22,024 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after selling 860 shares during the quarter. LPL Financial LLC’s holdings in Navient were worth $293,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the business. American Century Companies Inc. lifted its holdings in Navient by 6.4% in the 4th quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,822,583 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $24,222,000 after acquiring an additional 109,229 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its holdings 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 acquiring an additional 10,788 shares during the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC lifted its holdings in Navient by 5.1% in the 4th quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 467,232 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $6,210,000 after acquiring an additional 22,765 shares during the last quarter. Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. lifted its holdings in Navient by 43.1% in the 4th quarter. Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. now owns 395,948 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $5,262,000 after acquiring an additional 119,317 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Navient by 0.9% in the 4th quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 374,879 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $4,982,000 after acquiring an additional 3,445 shares during the last quarter. 97.14% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group cut their price target on shares of Navient from $14.00 to $12.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 21st. StockNews.com lowered shares of Navient from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective 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. TD Cowen raised shares of Navient from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 2nd. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their price objective on shares of Navient from $16.00 to $14.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, March 31st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Navient presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $12.83.

Navient Price Performance

NASDAQ NAVI opened at $12.23 on Tuesday. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $12.66 and a 200-day simple moving average of $13.80. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 16.35, a current ratio of 9.48 and a quick ratio of 9.49. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.54 and a beta of 1.24. Navient Co. has a 52-week low of $10.53 and a 52-week high of $16.97.

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

Navient Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 21st. Investors of record on Friday, March 7th were given a dividend of $0.16 per share. This represents a $0.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.23%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 7th. Navient’s payout ratio is presently 55.17%.

About Navient

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.