North Star Asset Management Inc. Sells 32,900 Shares of Navient Co. (NASDAQ:NAVI)

North Star Asset Management Inc. cut its position in Navient Co. (NASDAQ:NAVI - Free Report) by 19.5% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 135,911 shares of the credit services provider's stock after selling 32,900 shares during the period. North Star Asset Management Inc. owned about 0.13% of Navient worth $1,806,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of NAVI. Marshall Wace LLP raised its holdings in Navient by 1,043.8% in the fourth 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 during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its holdings in shares of Navient by 47.4% during the fourth 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. Tudor Investment Corp ET AL raised its holdings in shares of Navient by 1,088.8% during the fourth quarter. Tudor Investment Corp ET AL now owns 460,646 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $6,122,000 after acquiring an additional 421,898 shares during the period. Voloridge Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Navient during the fourth quarter worth $4,009,000. Finally, Lighthouse Investment Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Navient during the fourth quarter worth $3,717,000. 97.14% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on NAVI shares. 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 report on Monday, April 21st. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Navient from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. TD Securities lifted their price target on shares of Navient from $11.00 to $12.00 and gave the company a "sell" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. TD Cowen lowered shares of Navient from a "hold" rating to a "strong sell" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of Navient from $11.00 to $12.50 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Navient presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $12.93.

Navient Stock Performance

NAVI traded down $0.27 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $13.38. The company's stock had a trading volume of 483,320 shares, compared to its average volume of 768,512. The company's 50-day moving average is $12.45 and its 200-day moving average is $13.53. Navient Co. has a 52 week low of $10.53 and a 52 week high of $16.97. The firm has a market cap of $1.35 billion, a PE ratio of 11.53 and a beta of 1.38. 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 (NASDAQ:NAVI - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 30th. The credit services provider reported $0.28 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 net margin of 2.96% and a return on equity of 6.69%. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.47 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts forecast that Navient Co. will post 1.04 EPS for the current year.

Navient Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 20th. Investors of record on Friday, June 6th will be issued a dividend of $0.16 per share. This represents a $0.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.78%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 6th. Navient's payout ratio is 128.00%.

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.