Vanguard Group Inc. Sells 443,936 Shares of Navient Co. (NASDAQ:NAVI)

Vanguard Group Inc. reduced its position in Navient Co. (NASDAQ:NAVI) by 4.2% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 10,195,054 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after selling 443,936 shares during the quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. owned approximately 9.04% of Navient worth $189,832,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Donald Smith & CO. Inc. grew its holdings in Navient by 31.5% during the 4th quarter. Donald Smith & CO. Inc. now owns 3,586,501 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $66,781,000 after acquiring an additional 858,890 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Navient by 7.4% during the 3rd 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 in the last quarter. Bridgeway Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Navient by 8.8% during the 4th quarter. Bridgeway Capital Management LLC now owns 811,826 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $15,116,000 after buying an additional 65,576 shares during the period. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Navient in the 4th quarter valued at $13,546,000. Finally, Invesco Ltd. lifted its position in shares of Navient by 14.5% during the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 704,608 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $12,133,000 after acquiring an additional 89,220 shares during the period. 97.14% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have commented on the stock. TD Cowen reduced their price target on shares of Navient from $14.00 to $13.00 and set a “sell” rating for the company in a report on Friday, April 26th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased 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. Barclays cut their price target on Navient from $13.00 to $11.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 25th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their price objective on Navient from $19.00 to $17.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 25th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eight have assigned a hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $16.10.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Mark L. Heleen sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 3rd. The stock was 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 document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders own 27.99% of the company’s stock.

Navient Stock Performance

NASDAQ NAVI opened at $14.41 on Wednesday. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $14.97 and a 200-day moving average price of $16.33. The firm has a market cap of $1.61 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.24 and a beta of 1.40. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 18.38, a current ratio of 12.52 and a quick ratio of 12.52. Navient Co. has a 1 year low of $13.96 and a 1 year high of $19.69.

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

Navient Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 21st. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 7th were paid a $0.16 dividend. This represents a $0.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.44%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 7th. Navient’s payout ratio is 41.03%.

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.