JPMorgan Chase & Co. Sells 21,361 Shares of Navient Co. (NASDAQ:NAVI)

JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered its holdings in shares of Navient Co. (NASDAQ:NAVI) by 12.7% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 146,661 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after selling 21,361 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. owned about 0.14% of Navient worth $2,286,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the business. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company grew its holdings in shares of Navient by 1.6% during the 2nd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 46,534 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $678,000 after purchasing an additional 722 shares during the last quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC grew its holdings in Navient by 2.7% in the 3rd quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC now owns 45,584 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $711,000 after acquiring an additional 1,218 shares during the last quarter. KBC Group NV grew its holdings in Navient by 47.0% in the 3rd quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 4,355 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $68,000 after acquiring an additional 1,392 shares during the last quarter. Xponance Inc. grew its holdings in Navient by 11.5% in the 2nd quarter. Xponance Inc. now owns 13,944 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $203,000 after acquiring an additional 1,440 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Covestor Ltd grew its holdings in Navient by 24.6% in the 3rd quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 7,360 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $115,000 after acquiring an additional 1,455 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 97.14% of the company’s stock.

Navient Trading Up 2.4 %

NASDAQ:NAVI opened at $14.26 on Wednesday. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $14.31 and a 200-day moving average price of $15.01. Navient Co. has a 12 month low of $12.73 and a 12 month high of $18.36. The company has a current ratio of 9.49, a quick ratio of 9.49 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 16.59. The stock has a market cap of $1.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.67 and a beta of 1.43.

Navient (NASDAQ:NAVI) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The credit services provider reported $1.45 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.25 by $1.20. Navient had a net margin of 1.71% and a return on equity of 8.62%. The company had revenue of $1.22 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $150.04 million. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.84 EPS. Equities analysts predict that Navient Co. will post 2.41 EPS for the current year.

Navient Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 20th. Investors of record on Friday, December 6th were given a dividend of $0.16 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 6th. This represents a $0.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.49%. Navient’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 92.75%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on NAVI shares. TD Cowen cut their price target on shares of Navient from $14.00 to $13.00 and set a “sell” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, November 1st. StockNews.com raised shares of Navient from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Barclays raised their price target on shares of Navient from $10.00 to $11.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. Bank of America dropped their target price on shares of Navient from $17.00 to $16.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, December 24th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on shares of Navient from $15.00 to $13.50 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Navient presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $14.58.

Insider Activity at Navient

In related news, EVP Stephen M. Hauber sold 10,000 shares of Navient stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $15.00, for a total transaction of $150,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 256,883 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,853,245. This trade represents a 3.75 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 27.99% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.