Nelnet, Inc. $NNI Position Lowered by Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc.

Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. decreased its position in shares of Nelnet, Inc. (NYSE:NNI) by 1.6% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,183,342 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after selling 18,920 shares during the quarter. Nelnet makes up about 4.2% of Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 3rd biggest holding. Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. owned approximately 3.27% of Nelnet worth $148,367,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Blue Trust Inc. raised its stake in Nelnet by 239.6% during the third quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 2,326 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $292,000 after purchasing an additional 1,641 shares during the period. CWM LLC increased its holdings in shares of Nelnet by 499.3% during the 3rd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 1,774 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $222,000 after buying an additional 1,478 shares during the last quarter. Inspire Investing LLC increased its holdings in shares of Nelnet by 11.5% during the 3rd quarter. Inspire Investing LLC now owns 3,608 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $452,000 after buying an additional 372 shares during the last quarter. Bar Harbor Wealth Management increased its holdings in shares of Nelnet by 0.9% during the 3rd quarter. Bar Harbor Wealth Management now owns 110,594 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $13,866,000 after buying an additional 1,028 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wedge Capital Management L L P NC acquired a new position in Nelnet in the third quarter valued at approximately $1,086,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 33.51% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Deun Jona M. Van sold 400 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $128.95, for a total transaction of $51,580.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 704 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $90,780.80. This represents a 36.23% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 50.90% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Nelnet Trading Down 0.9%

Shares of NYSE NNI opened at $134.54 on Tuesday. Nelnet, Inc. has a twelve month low of $98.15 and a twelve month high of $140.87. The company has a current ratio of 28.98, a quick ratio of 28.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.18. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $131.35 and a 200-day simple moving average of $126.94. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.83 billion, a PE ratio of 11.31 and a beta of 0.83.

Nelnet (NYSE:NNI) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, November 6th. The credit services provider reported $2.95 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.52 by $1.43. The firm had revenue of $427.76 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $372.00 million. Nelnet had a return on equity of 12.58% and a net margin of 18.96%. On average, equities analysts forecast that Nelnet, Inc. will post 4.52 earnings per share for the current year.

Nelnet Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 15th. Investors of record on Monday, December 1st were issued a $0.33 dividend. This represents a $1.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.0%. This is an increase from Nelnet’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.30. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 1st. Nelnet’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 11.09%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

NNI has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Wall Street Zen cut Nelnet from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, November 15th. TD Cowen increased their price target on Nelnet from $130.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, November 10th. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Nelnet in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating, According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $135.00.

Nelnet Company Profile

Nelnet, Inc (NYSE: NNI) is a diversified education services company founded in 1978 and headquartered in Lincoln, Nebraska. Originally established as the National Education Loan Network by Michael S. Dunlap, the company has grown into a prominent provider of student loan servicing and education finance solutions in the United States.

At the core of Nelnet’s business is student loan servicing, where it administers and manages federal and private education loans on behalf of borrowers and lending partners.