Swiss National Bank Sells 2,300 Shares of Navient Co. (NASDAQ:NAVI)

Swiss National Bank trimmed its position in Navient Co. (NASDAQ:NAVI) by 1.4% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 161,400 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after selling 2,300 shares during the quarter. Swiss National Bank’s holdings in Navient were worth $2,145,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in NAVI. Prescott Group Capital Management L.L.C. bought a new position in shares of Navient in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $2,525,000. Edgestream Partners L.P. grew its stake in Navient by 156.5% in the 4th quarter. Edgestream Partners L.P. now owns 247,650 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $3,291,000 after purchasing an additional 151,086 shares during the period. Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. increased its position in shares of Navient by 43.1% during 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 purchasing an additional 119,317 shares during the last quarter. Barclays PLC boosted its holdings in shares of Navient by 59.0% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 284,130 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $4,429,000 after buying an additional 105,454 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. bought a new position in Navient during the third quarter valued at about $714,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 97.14% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have weighed in on the stock. StockNews.com cut shares of Navient from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Bank of America reduced 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. Seaport Res Ptn upgraded Navient from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on Navient from $15.00 to $13.50 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $13.90.

Navient Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ NAVI opened at $13.20 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 16.35, a quick ratio of 9.49 and a current ratio of 9.48. Navient Co. has a fifty-two week low of $12.73 and a fifty-two week high of $17.56. The stock has a market cap of $1.35 billion, a PE ratio of 11.38 and a beta of 1.36. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $13.78 and a 200-day moving average of $14.46.

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

Navient Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 21st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 7th were paid a $0.16 dividend. This represents a $0.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.85%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 7th. Navient’s dividend payout ratio is presently 55.17%.

Navient Company 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.