Navient Co. (NASDAQ:NAVI) Position Reduced by Assenagon Asset Management S.A.

Assenagon Asset Management S.A. decreased its holdings in shares of Navient Co. (NASDAQ:NAVI - Free Report) by 62.8% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 201,495 shares of the credit services provider's stock after selling 340,179 shares during the quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. owned 0.17% of Navient worth $3,752,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of NAVI. BlackRock Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Navient by 27.4% during the second quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 16,272,912 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $302,351,000 after purchasing an additional 3,502,330 shares in the last quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH boosted its stake in Navient by 22.9% in the first quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH now owns 2,641,958 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $45,019,000 after buying an additional 491,644 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Navient by 32.9% during the fourth quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 1,891,365 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $31,113,000 after purchasing an additional 467,779 shares during the period. Renaissance Technologies LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Navient during the first quarter valued at approximately $4,611,000. Finally, Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC boosted its stake in shares of Navient by 926.9% during the first quarter. Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC now owns 298,571 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $4,774,000 after purchasing an additional 269,497 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 97.14% of the company's stock.

Navient Stock Performance

Shares of Navient stock traded down $0.35 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $16.68. 591,846 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 925,712. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 19.35, a current ratio of 13.64 and a quick ratio of 13.63. Navient Co. has a 1 year low of $14.10 and a 1 year high of $19.69. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.88 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.37 and a beta of 1.38. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $16.63 and a 200-day simple moving average of $17.16.

Navient (NASDAQ:NAVI - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 31st. The credit services provider reported $0.70 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.77 by ($0.07). Navient had a net margin of 4.72% and a return on equity of 14.17%. The business had revenue of $193.00 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $210.76 million. As a group, analysts forecast that Navient Co. will post 2.22 EPS for the current year.

Navient Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 1st were paid a $0.16 dividend. This represents a $0.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.84%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 29th. Navient's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 35.96%.

Insider Transactions at Navient

In related news, EVP Mark L. Heleen sold 10,000 shares of Navient stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $17.20, for a total transaction of $172,000.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 385,577 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $6,631,924.40. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 22.10% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on NAVI shares. Stephens lowered Navient from an "equal weight" rating to an "underweight" rating and set a $16.00 price objective for the company. in a research note on Tuesday, January 2nd. TD Cowen downgraded Navient from a "market perform" rating to an "underperform" rating and decreased their target price for the company from $17.00 to $15.00 in a report on Monday, January 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on Navient from $19.00 to $18.00 and set an "underweight" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 1st. StockNews.com downgraded Navient from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, February 1st. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft initiated coverage on Navient in a report on Wednesday, January 10th. They set a "hold" rating and a $19.00 target price for the company. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and seven have given a hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $16.90.

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.