Marshall Wace LLP Raises Holdings in Navient Co. (NASDAQ:NAVI)

Marshall Wace LLP lifted its holdings in Navient Co. (NASDAQ:NAVI) by 1,043.8% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 635,466 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 579,909 shares during the quarter. Marshall Wace LLP’s holdings in Navient were worth $8,445,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Sterling Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Navient by 815.0% during the 4th quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC now owns 2,443 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $32,000 after acquiring an additional 2,176 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Navient during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $167,000. AXQ Capital LP purchased a new stake in Navient in the fourth quarter worth approximately $196,000. Headlands Technologies LLC boosted its stake in shares of Navient by 757.3% in the 4th quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC now owns 14,737 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $196,000 after buying an additional 13,018 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Aigen Investment Management LP bought a new stake in shares of Navient in the fourth quarter worth $258,000. 97.14% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Navient Stock Up 4.1 %

Shares of NAVI stock opened at $11.45 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $1.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.87 and a beta of 1.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 16.35, a current ratio of 9.48 and a quick ratio of 9.49. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $12.82 and its 200-day moving average price is $13.92. Navient Co. has a one year low of $10.53 and a one year high of $16.97.

Navient (NASDAQ:NAVI) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The credit services provider reported $0.25 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.26 by ($0.01). Navient had a net margin of 2.96% and a return on equity of 6.69%. Sell-side analysts expect that Navient Co. will post 1.04 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Navient Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 21st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 7th were issued a dividend of $0.16 per share. This represents a $0.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.59%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 7th. Navient’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 55.17%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have issued reports on NAVI. TD Cowen upgraded Navient from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 2nd. StockNews.com lowered shares of Navient from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Seaport Res Ptn upgraded shares of Navient from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their price objective on shares of Navient from $16.00 to $14.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, March 31st. Finally, Bank of America decreased their target price on Navient from $17.00 to $16.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, December 24th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $12.83.

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.