Navient (NASDAQ:NAVI) Stock Price Crosses Below Two Hundred Day Moving Average – Should You Sell?

Shares of Navient Co. (NASDAQ:NAVI) crossed below its 200-day moving average during trading on Thursday . The stock has a 200-day moving average of $15.06 and traded as low as $13.04. Navient shares last traded at $13.08, with a volume of 961,755 shares.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on Navient from $15.50 to $15.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, December 9th. Barclays raised their price objective on Navient from $10.00 to $11.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. Bank of America dropped their target price on Navient from $17.00 to $16.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, December 24th. StockNews.com raised Navient from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Finally, TD Cowen dropped their price objective on Navient from $14.00 to $13.00 and set a “sell” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $15.43.

Navient Trading Down 2.5 %

The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $14.51 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $15.06. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.40 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.96 and a beta of 1.43. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 16.59, a quick ratio of 9.49 and a current ratio of 9.49.

Navient (NASDAQ:NAVI) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The credit services provider reported $1.45 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.25 by $1.20. Navient had a net margin of 1.71% and a return on equity of 8.62%. The business had revenue of $1.22 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $150.04 million. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.84 earnings per share. On average, research analysts forecast that Navient Co. will post 2.47 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Navient Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 20th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 6th were issued a dividend of $0.16 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 6th. This represents a $0.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.89%. Navient’s payout ratio is presently 92.75%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP Stephen M. Hauber sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $15.00, for a total transaction of $150,000.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 256,883 shares in the company, valued at $3,853,245. This represents a 3.75 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 27.99% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Navient

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in NAVI. Donald Smith & CO. Inc. raised its stake in shares of Navient by 27.8% in the third quarter. Donald Smith & CO. Inc. now owns 3,581,311 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $55,833,000 after purchasing an additional 779,973 shares during the last quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC purchased a new position in Navient in the 2nd quarter worth about $3,345,000. American Century Companies Inc. lifted its stake in Navient by 12.1% during the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,582,928 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $23,047,000 after acquiring an additional 171,160 shares during the period. Marshall Wace LLP purchased a new stake in shares of Navient during the 2nd quarter valued at about $2,327,000. Finally, Barclays PLC grew its stake in shares of Navient by 59.0% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 284,130 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $4,429,000 after acquiring an additional 105,454 shares during the period. 97.14% of the stock is owned by 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.