Mark L. Heleen Sells 10,000 Shares of Navient Co. (NASDAQ:NAVI) Stock

Navient Co. (NASDAQ:NAVI) EVP Mark L. Heleen sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $16.00, for a total transaction of $160,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 393,611 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,297,776. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link.

Navient Price Performance

Shares of NAVI opened at $15.47 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $1.73 billion, a PE ratio of 9.92 and a beta of 1.39. Navient Co. has a 1-year low of $14.10 and a 1-year high of $19.69. The company has a current ratio of 12.52, a quick ratio of 12.52 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 18.38. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $16.45 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $16.99.

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

Navient Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 1st were paid a dividend of $0.16 per share. This represents a $0.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.14%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 29th. Navient’s dividend payout ratio is presently 41.03%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently weighed in on NAVI. Barclays reduced their price objective on Navient from $13.00 to $11.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on Navient from $17.00 to $16.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 25th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Navient from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 1st. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their target price on shares of Navient from $19.00 to $17.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 25th. Finally, Citigroup boosted their price objective on shares of Navient from $17.00 to $18.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, February 1st. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eight have assigned a hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $16.10.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Navient

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of NAVI. Sei Investments Co. lifted its position in Navient by 11.7% during the first quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 99,971 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $1,740,000 after purchasing an additional 10,487 shares in the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC lifted its position in shares of Navient by 7.7% during the 1st quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 391,401 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $6,810,000 after buying an additional 27,997 shares in the last quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP bought a new position in shares of Navient during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $636,000. BNP Paribas Financial Markets increased its holdings in Navient by 265.4% in the 1st quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 128,690 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $2,239,000 after acquiring an additional 93,469 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC bought a new stake in Navient during the 1st quarter worth approximately $36,000. 97.14% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.