Nebula Research & Development LLC Purchases Shares of 22,251 Navient Co. (NASDAQ:NAVI)

Nebula Research & Development LLC purchased a new position in Navient Co. (NASDAQ:NAVI - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm purchased 22,251 shares of the credit services provider's stock, valued at approximately $296,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. American Century Companies Inc. raised its position in shares of Navient by 6.4% during the 4th quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,822,583 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $24,222,000 after acquiring an additional 109,229 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its holdings in shares of Navient by 47.4% in the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 1,315,841 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $17,488,000 after acquiring an additional 423,013 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its position in shares of Navient by 0.9% in the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 1,149,599 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $15,278,000 after purchasing an additional 10,788 shares during the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP increased its position in Navient by 1,043.8% during the 4th quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 635,466 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $8,445,000 after purchasing an additional 579,909 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership lifted its position in Navient by 51.3% during the fourth quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 555,634 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $7,384,000 after buying an additional 188,399 shares during the period. 97.14% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on NAVI. TD Securities upped their price target on shares of Navient from $11.00 to $12.00 and gave the stock a "sell" rating in a research report on Thursday. StockNews.com downgraded Navient from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. TD Cowen lowered Navient from a "hold" rating to a "strong sell" rating in a report on Thursday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on Navient from $11.00 to $12.50 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group dropped their price objective on shares of Navient from $14.00 to $12.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 21st. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Navient currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $12.93.

Navient Stock Performance

Navient stock traded up $0.22 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $12.98. The company had a trading volume of 363,866 shares, compared to its average volume of 774,037. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $12.55 and a 200 day moving average of $13.72. The firm has a market cap of $1.31 billion, a PE ratio of 11.19 and a beta of 1.38. Navient Co. has a one year low of $10.53 and a one year high of $16.97. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 16.35, a current ratio of 9.48 and a quick ratio of 9.49.

Navient (NASDAQ:NAVI - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 30th. The credit services provider reported $0.28 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.19 by $0.09. The company had revenue of $156.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $150.40 million. Navient had a return on equity of 6.69% and a net margin of 2.96%. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.47 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Navient Co. will post 1.04 earnings per share for the current year.

Navient Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 21st. Investors of record on Friday, March 7th were issued a dividend of $0.16 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 7th. This represents a $0.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.93%. Navient's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 128.00%.

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.